Currency movements main factor in deciding ranking of most expensive cities in the world

Currency movements main factor in deciding ranking of most expensive cities in the world A review of Mercer's Cost of Living Survey

29 June 2010: Angola's capital city Luanda has replaced Tokyo as the most expensive city in the world for US expatriates (expatriate [eks'pætrieit] n.移居外国者 vt.逐出国外, 脱离国籍, 放逐vi.移居国外) according to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer. Tokyo is in second position, while Ndjamena (Ndjamena [endʒə'meinə] n. 恩贾梅纳) (Chad n. 乍得（非洲中北部国家）) is now in third place. The survey's table of the world's 50 most expensive cities includes 10 from Africa.

Last year, similar research by ECA International already put Luanda (Angola) first and Tokyo second. A report published by the Swiss Bank UBS in 2009 has aslo as the world's most expensive city, followed by Zurich ( ['zjuərik]) and Copenhagen.

The fundamental flaw of all cost surveys is that they convert local prices into US dollars, which means that any changes are as much the result of currency fluctuations as of price inflation. In surveys by ECA, UBS, Mercer and EIU the cost of living in cities outside the US dollar zone becomes more expensive if the dollar weakens against local currencies even when prices remain unchanged or indeed fall. （这些以美元为货币基准的调查缺点在于，美元贬值对调查结果有直接影响。非美元区的生活成本在美元走低的时候显示增高，实际却完全相反。） A good example is cities in the United Kingdom. During the past three years the pound sterling (sterling [ˈstə:liŋ] n.英国货币 a.标准纯度的；品格优秀的) has both weakened against the US dollar and the euro - from $2.10 to $1.5 and from €1.50 to €1.23. Therefore London and other British cities have become considerably less expensive for anyone travelling to the UK from Europe or the US, while at the same time the cost of many imported items, including gas and oil, increased due to the diminished purchasing power of the pound. In 2008, according to Mercer, London was the third most expensive city in world, while only two year later it is ranked 17th. （如果当地货币持续走低，若以美元为兑换基准，那么调查会显示其生活成本降低，实际上则不然。以伦敦为例，英镑对美元和欧元的比值均显示出下降走势…） The iPod--Index probably provides a truer indication as to the cost of living across the world. It measures how many hours people in various cities have to work to be able to afford Apple's MP3 player. The average employee in New York City has to work nine hours to afford an iPod nano, whereas in Mumbai he has to work 177 hours.（我晕哦~以购买ipod nano为例，纽约人工作9小时，孟买人工作177小时。） In Mercer’s 2010 survey, New York is used as the base city for the index and scores 100 points, all cities are compared against New York and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.（以美国纽约市为基准进行调查比较。） The world's most expensive big cities in 2010 (The index is based on cost of living expressed in US dollars. Therefore, if the dollar weakens against the local currency of a city, the city becomes more expensive and moves up the index, even if prices expressed in local currency remain the same or go down.) Rank 2010 Rank 2009* City Country

1 - Luanda Angola 2 1 Tokyo Japan 3 - Ndjamena Chad 4 3 Moscow Russia 5 4 Geneva Switzerland 6 2 Osaka Japan 7 - Libreville Gabon =8 6 Zurich Switzerland =8 5 Hong Kong Hong Kong 10 7 Copenhagen Denmark =11 10 Singapore Singapore =11 14 Oslo Norway 13 - Victoria Seychelles 14 - Seoul South Korea 15 11 Milan Italy 16 9 Beijing China =17 16 London UK =17 13 Paris France =19 17 Tel Aviv Israel =19 - Nagoya Japan 21 - Sao Paulo Brazil 22 - Bern Switzerland 23 - Niamey Niger 24 - Sydney Australia 25 12 Shanghai China 26 18 Rome Italy

27 8 New York City USA 28 21 Vienna Austria 29 - Rio de Janeir Brazil 30 46 St Russia Petersburg 31 19 Helsinki Finland 32 =34 Dakar Senegal

=33 - Bangui Central African Republi =33 51 Melbourne Australia 35 29 Amsterdam Netherlands 36 - Baku Azerbaijan 37 30 Bratislava Slovakia =38 =23 Guangzhou China

=38 - Noumea New Caledonia =40 28 Athens Greece =40 27 Douala Cameroon =42 22 Shenzhen China =42 25 Dublin Ireland 44 - Istanbul Turkey =45 34 Abidjan ivory Coast =45 - Havana Cuba

47 - Prague Czech Republic 48 - Brazzavillet Congo 49 =38 Barcelona Spain =50 48 Frankfurt Germany =50 26i Abu Dhabi UAE Research by Mercer Consulting. Please note: *Additional cities have been added to the 2010 rankings. A direct comparison with the 2009 rankings is therefore not possible.

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Mercer's 2010 Cost of Living Survey The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowance for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city for the index and all cities are compared against New York. Currency