Asia-Pacific and European cities top the ranks of costliest abodes

● Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for the fifth year in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Worldwide Cost of Living report, with Paris and Zurich tied for second place.

Asia-Pacific and European destinations dominated the ranks of costliest cities in the report, released this week. Tokyo and Osaka were conspicuous in their absence from the top 10, edged out by low inflation.

As recently as 2013, Tokyo was the world’s costliest city to live in. The Japanese capital dropped seven places to 11th over the past year. Hong Kong, last year’s secondmost expensive city, slipped to fourth place.

Sydney rose four notches to break into the top 10, with Oslo, Geneva, Zurich and Copenhagen also climbing the list, which is compiled from a survey of 160 items across 133 countries.

“Currency fluctuations continue to be a major cause for changes in the ranking,” the EIU said.

A weakening dollar meant no US city was among the 10 most expensive despite a rise in the relative cost of living in the US over recent years, the EIU said. The report named New York and Los Angeles as the 13th and 14th costliest, down from ninth and 11th positions last year.

Paris is the only eurozone city among the top 10 most expensive, even as the euro rallied. Tel Aviv was the sole Middle East metropolis among the top 10.

Although Asia is home to some of the world’s most expensive places to live, it also has some of the most affordable. South Asian cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Karachi and New Delhi provided good value for money, the report noted.

Currency fluctuations a major cause for changes in the ranking