Most Expensive Cities 2006
 

It seems like there are about 3 or 4 of these every year. Here is Mercer Human Resource Consulting's Top 10.

1. Moscow, Russia
2. Seoul, South Korea
3. Hong Kong, China
4. London, UK
5. Osaka, Japan
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. Zurich, Switzerland
9. Oslo, Norway
10. New York, US

I've never been to Moscow, but I was slightly shocked to see that it made #1. Thoughts?

Wow, that is pretty shocking. I thought I read just recently that Oslo Norway was the most expensive city now. I don't remember where, though. I guess it depends upon who is doing the surveying!

Each of these lists has different results because they use different criteria. Lists may measure "most expensive to live", "most expensive for travellers", "most expensive to do business", or any other niche dreamed up by listmakers.

This list is a 'most expensive for an expat', and given Moscow's extraordinarily high property prices it is no surprise to see it sneak into number 1.

Washington Post Travel section yesterday had an article on Tokyo on the cheap. They stated that Tokyo had just recently been surpassed by Oslo for number 1 - no source of stats though.

here's the oslo story from earlier this year...
 

Interestingly, the "first published" date on that article was March 2005 . I was there this past May as BBC reported that Oslo had *just* passed Tokyo as the world's most expensive city.

I will say one thing. It was freaking expensive. :eek:

And another one...
 

This one by Swiss bank UBS.

1. Oslo
2. London
3. Copenhagen
4. Zurich
5. Tokyo
6. Geneva
7. New York
8. Dublin
9. Stockholm
10. Helsinki

http://www.ubs.com/1/e/media_overvie...?newsId=103130

With these things it all depends on the basket of goods used to decide on how expensive a city is. It could include golf club membership, private school tuition fees, a new Mercedes and a chauffeur. This might bear little or no relation for the actual costs of a real person living in a city, even for most expats.

I once had to help research a similar survey in Kyiv which would be used to help calculate cost of living allowances for expats (and was naturally encouraged by expats to hunt down the most expensive dry cleaners, tennis balls, microwaves etc etc!).

Of course there are certain things left out as well. For example I believe with this recent survey, the cost of an underground train ticket in Moscow (which was much, much lower than most other cities) was not included. The excuse was that 'expats would never use the Metro in Moscow' :rolleyes:

So take any of these surveys with a hefty pinch of salt (unless it means you will get a more generous hardship allowance or cost of living expenses :p ) Yes, Moscow can be pricey at times, accomodation and housing in particular, but it need not be the most expensive city in the world!

I too am really surprised that it made number 1. I have been to London, Geneva, Zurich, Oslo and New York in the past year, and I can vouch that they are indeed expensive. I was surprised that neither Dublin nor Stockholm made this list, but I see it made the UBS list. Oslo is number one there; that doesn't surprise me at all.