According to ECA International, Luanda is the most expensive city in the world...



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The most expensive cities in the world
Research by ECA International

THE MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES IN THE WORLD
ECA International survey (June 2008): Introduction | Table: World | Table: Europe | Table: Asia |
UBS survey (March 2008): Most expensive cities (Intro) | World's most expensive cities (table) | Richest cities by personal earnings (table) | Richest cities by purchasing power (table |
Mercer survey (July 2008): Most expensive cities
EIU survey (2007): Most expensive cities

RICHEST CITIES BY GDP
Introduction | 150 richest cities in 2005 | 150 richest cities in 2020 | Europe's richest cities |


Most expensive cities in the world
Rank 2008
Rank 2007
Cities
Countries
1
1
 Luanda Angola
2
2
 Oslo Norway
3
4
 Stavanger Norway
4
5
 Copenhagen Denmark
5
3
 Moscow Russia
6
9
 Geneva Switzerland
7
8
 Libreville Gabon
8
12
 Zurich Switzerland
9
15
 Basel Switzerland
10
17
 Bern Switzerland
11
14
 Helsinki Finland
12
6
 Kinshasa Congo
13
13
 Tokyo Japan
14
16
 Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire
15
18
 Yokohama Japan
16
21
 Abuja Nigeria
17
11
 St Petersburg Russia
18
7
 Seoul South Korea
19
27
 Paris France
20
20
 Nagoya Japan
21
29
 Berlin Germany
22
28
 Vienna Austria
23
26
 Istanbul Turkey
24
10
 Central London UK
25
33
 Strasbourg France
26
23
 Dakar Senegal
27
36
 Stockholm Sweden
28
31
 Munich Germany
29
30
 Kobe Japan
30
37
 Rome Italy
31
41
 The Hague Netherlands
32
38
 Milan Italy
33
40
 Brussels Belgium
34
47
 Gothenburg Sweden
35
39
 Dusseldorf Germany
36
46
 Dublin Ireland
37
45
 Ankara Turkey
38
62
 Tel Aviv Israel
39
59
 Jerusalem Israel
40
53
 Toulouse France
41
51
 Luxembourg City Luxembourg
42
49
 Frankfurt Germany
43
19
 Busan Korea
44
60
 Lyon France
45
55
 Hamburg Germany
46
52
 Lagos Nigeria
47
63
 Amsterdam Netherlands
48
57
 Stuttgart Germany
49
61
 Antwerp Belgium
50
22
 Ulsan South Korea



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View comments
...while Oslo is the most expensive city in Europe


Comment
Most expensive
dollar-cities
Author: John Courtney Watt
Dear Editor: In compiling your list of most expensive cities worldwide, why do you insist on standardizing all costs relative to the American Dollar? This means that the cost of those cities only pertains to a person spending or earning American dollars. It does not address the costs relative to what a person typically earns in that city. Wouldn’t it be far more meaningful and informative if you took the median income earned in that particular city and compared it to costs incurred in that city such as food, transportation and housing (which itself should be the median price). For example, prices may be cheap in American dollars in Lagos, Nigeria thus giving it a low ranking in terms of costs. But what if a person living in Lagos is earning an income similar to the median income for that city and the prices for food transportation and the median house price/rent is high relative to that person’s wages then Lagos should score a higher rank in the table of expensive cities. Even within the same country wages are not the same for identical occupations in different cities. A corporate lawyer in New York will earn more than a corporate lawyer in Mobile, Alabama but how do their wages compare to costs within their respective cities? This is how cost of living in cities should be ranked, not to the baseline of the American dollar.

Editor's reply:
We agree with the above comment. Indeed in our introduction we said: “The problem with all three 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. For example according to all four featured surveys, the cost of living in European cities becomes more expensive if the dollar weakens even when local prices remain unchanged.” More comments