BUSINESS
Moscow remains world's priciest city for expats; Tokyo down to 4th

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 14:13 EDT

NEW YORK ? Moscow remained the world's priciest city for expatriates in 2007 for the second consecutive year, while Tokyo fell to the fourth place from third in the ranking of 143 cities worldwide, a survey result showed Monday. The latest Cost of Living Survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting of the United States compared those cities by a cost of living index for 200 items, such as housing, transportation and food costs.
The index for Moscow rose from 123.9 in 2006 to 134.4 this year, against 100 for New York, due mainly to higher housing costs, according to the survey. London came second at 126.3, up from fifth last year. Seoul fell from second to third place with an index reading of 122.4, replacing Tokyo, which slid to fourth place at 122.1, followed by Hong Kong. Osaka ranked eighth, down from sixth last year. At the lowest of the ranking was the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, for the fifth year in a row. (Kyodo News)