As reported by Lenta.ru, Tokyo took second place, moving up two spots in the ranking compared to 2007. The third spot went to London, which held second position last year. Fourth and fifth places were taken by Oslo and Seoul respectively. The cheapest city in the world (143rd place) for the sixth time was Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.
When compiling the ranking, researchers take into account prices of more than two hundred different goods and services (including housing rent, food, and gasoline) in 143 cities around the world. The benchmark is the cost of a basket of goods in the most expensive US city, New York, which in the current Mercer ranking dropped seven spots to only 22nd place.
Compared to prices in New York, Shanghai, Amsterdam, or Madrid, Moscow prices are almost one and a half times higher, reports Reuters.