Moscow 'more expensive than London'
Moscow's under-construction business centre
Also In The News
|
A video showing masked Palestinian militants threatening the death of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston has been broadcast by the al-Jazeera television channel. |  |
Monday, 18, Jun 2007 09:41
Moscow has pipped London to be named as the world's most expensive city for expatriate workers.
The annual cost of living survey from Mercer Human Resource Consulting ranks the Russian capital at number one for the second year running.
A statement from the firm explained that the high cost of accommodation and the favourable exchange rate against the US dollar had helped Moscow retain its top ranking.
London rose three places to second in the list, with South Korea's capital Seoul, Japan's Tokyo and Hong Kong completing the top five.
But a spokesperson for Mercer said: "Europe dominated the top 50, placing 30 cities on the list and capturing six of spots in the top ten. Strong currencies helped push most European cities higher for 2007."
The survey, designed to help multinational companies and governments determine how much compensation allowances expatriate employees should be given, measured the comparative cost of 200 items across 143 of the world's cities.
Paraguayan capital Asuncion was named as the least expensive city for the fifth year running.
Top ten expensive cities for expatriates
1 Moscow, Russia
2 London, UK
3 Seoul, South Korea
4 Tokyo, Japan
5 Hong Kong, Hong Kong
6 Copenhagen, Denmark
7 Geneva, Switzerland
8 Osaka, Tokyo
9 Zurich, Switzerland
10 Oslo, Norway