Moscow and Seoul are the world's most expensive cities while Tokyo, which ranked first in the past two years, has dropped to third place. Tokyo has lost its title of the world most expensive city because of currency fluctuations between the Japanese Yen and the US dollar.
According to Mercer Consulting, the cost of living in a particular city was derived on the basis of cost of a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment, a cup of coffee served, a fast food meal and an international paper.
The cheapest cities in the world are Zimbabwe's Harare, Pakistan's Karachi and India's Bangalore. New York remains the most expensive city in North America while London beats other European cities.
The survey, conducted by New York-based Mercer in March, measures the costs of more than 200 items in 144 cities. Companies and governments use the information to gauge the purchasing power of employees transferred abroad.
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