INTERNATIONAL REWARD
Worldwide cost of living survey 2004
Tokyo remains the world's most expensive city, according to the latest cost of living survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
London moved up five places in the rankings to take second position, followed by Moscow which dropped down a place this year. Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city in the survey.
"There have been some dramatic movements in the rankings this year which are largely due to currency fluctuations, particularly of the US dollar and the Euro," said Marie-Laurence Sepede, senior researcher at Mercer.
With New York as the base city scoring 100 points, Tokyo scores 130.7 and is more than three times costlier than Asuncion which has an index of 42.7.
The latest figures gathered by Mercer show that gap between the world’ s most and least expensive cities has narrowed only marginally, by less than two points compared to four points last year and 15 points in 2002.
London most expensive city in Europe
London is the most expensive city in Europe, with a score of 119. High accommodation and transport costs together with the appreciation of the pound against the US dollar have pushed the city up in the rankings.
But as Sepede points out: "The scores are based on the cost of living for expatriates, who are more likely to stay in Central London where accommodation is most expensive." Glasgow and Birmingham rank lower in the UK at positions 41 and 51 respectively (scores 84.1 and 82.8).
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Title: Worldwide Cost Of Living Survey 2004, Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Methodology: The figures for Mercer's cost of living comparisons are based on a survey conducted in March 2004. The survey, which covers 144 cities, measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location. These include housing, food, clothing and household goods, together with transportation and entertainment.
Availability: Individual reports are produced for each city surveyed. Further information and copies of the reports are available from client services, Mercer Global Information Services, Geneva, tel: +41 22 869 3000, web: www.mercerhr.com
To read the press release online jump to www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1142150
Mercer Human Resource Consulting is one of the world’ s leading consulting organisations. It helps employers "create measurable business results through their people". Mercer has more than 13,000 employees serving clients from some 150 cities in 40 countries worldwide. Visit Mercer online at www.mercerhr.com and www.imercer.com
Posted 21 June 2004