The 2008/2009 Global cost of living by country
Every year Mercer releases Worldwide Ranking country ranking based on the cost of living. The 2008 top 50 countries are listed below with a comparison to their 2007 ranking.
From www.finfacts.com:
Mercer Cost of Living Survey – Worldwide Rankings, 2008
The indices are based on Mercer's cost of living database and are modified to include rental accommodation costs and to reflect constant weighting and basket items. We do not recommend that expatriates use the figures represented here to compare their own compensation packages.
| Rankings | City | Country | COL Index | ||
| March 2008 | March 2007 | March 2008 | March 2007 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Moscow | Russia | 142.4 | 134.4 |
| 2 | 4 | Tokyo | Japan | 127.0 | 122.1 |
| 3 | 2 | London | UK | 125.0 | 126.3 |
| 4 | 10 | Oslo | Norway | 118.3 | 105.8 |
| 5 | 3 | Seoul | South Korea | 117.7 | 122.4 |
| 6 | 5 | Hong Kong | China | 117.6 | 119.4 |
| 7 | 6 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 117.2 | 110.2 |
| 8 | 7 | Geneva | Switzerland | 115.8 | 109.8 |
| 9 | 9 | Zurich | Switzerland | 112.7 | 107.6 |
| 10 | 11 | Milan | Italy | 111.3 | 104.4 |
| 11 | 8 | Osaka | Japan | 110.0 | 108.4 |
| 12 | 13 | Paris | France | 109.4 | 101.4 |
| 13 | 14 | Singapore | Singapore | 109.1 | 100.4 |
| 14 | 17 | Tel Aviv | Israel | 105.0 | 97.7 |
| 15 | 21 | Sydney | Australia | 104.1 | 94.9 |
| 16 | 16 | Dublin | Ireland | 103.9 | 99.6 |
| 16 | 18 | Rome | Italy | 103.9 | 97.6 |
| 18 | 12 | St. Petersburg | Russia | 103.1 | 103.0 |
| 19 | 19 | Vienna | Austria | 102.3 | 96.9 |
| 20 | 20 | Beijing | China | 101.9 | 95.9 |
| 21 | 22 | Helsinki | Finland | 101.1 | 93.3 |
| 22 | 15 | New York City | US | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 23 | 38 | Istanbul | Turkey | 99.4 | 87.7 |
| 24 | 26 | Shanghai | China | 98.3 | 92.1 |
| 25 | 25 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 97.0 | 92.2 |
| 25 | 29 | Athens | Greece | 97.0 | 90.6 |
| 25 | 62 | São Paulo | Brazil | 97.0 | 82.8 |
| 28 | 26 | Madrid | Spain | 96.7 | 92.1 |
| 29 | 49 | Prague | Czech Rep. | 96.0 | 85.6 |
| 30 | 37 | Lagos | Nigeria | 95.9 | 88.0 |
| 31 | 31 | Barcelona | Spain | 95.2 | 89.2 |
| 31 | 64 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | 95.2 | 82.5 |
| 31 | 23 | Stockholm | Sweden | 95.2 | 93.1 |
| 34 | 24 | Douala | Cameroon | 95.1 | 92.9 |
| 35 | 67 | Warsaw | Poland | 95.0 | 82.4 |
| 36 | 64 | Melbourne | Australia | 94.2 | 82.5 |
| 37 | 39 | Munich | Germany | 93.1 | 87.6 |
| 38 | 45 | Berlin | Germany | 93.0 | 85.9 |
| 39 | 44 | Brussels | Belgium | 92.9 | 86.5 |
| 40 | 40 | Frankfurt | Germany | 92.5 | 87.4 |
| 41 | 33 | Dakar | Senegal | 92.2 | 89.0 |
| 42 | 28 | Kiev | Ukraine | 91.7 | 91.4 |
| 43 | 43 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 91.3 | 87.0 |
| 44 | 30 | Almaty | Kazakhstan | 90.7 | 89.6 |
| 45 | 31 | Bratislava | Slovakia | 90.6 | 89.2 |
| 46 | 45 | Düsseldorf | Germany | 90.4 | 85.9 |
| 46 | 72 | Riga | Latvia | 90.4 | 81.5 |
| 48 | 52 | Mumbai | India | 90.3 | 84.9 |
| 49 | 59 | Zagreb | Croatia | 90.0 | 83.5 |
| 50 | 57 | Hamburg | Germany | 89.9 | 84.2 |