The 20 most expensive cities to live in the world in 2015 also tend to be among the most well-developed cities in the world. Everyone dreams of living in a city with a stable, well-performing economy with a high rate of employment and low or almost nonexistent crime rates. Such a city should also have excellent infrastructure, and logical laws which are followed by the people as well. While such cities exist, they come at a price. And that price is the price of living in them. Such cities tend to have a high cost of living, in order to be able to pay for the convenience and luxury afforded to them. Even visiting them for a short while can significantly affect your wallet, as evidenced in the 10 most expensive cities in the world to visit.
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In order to create a ranking of the most expensive cities in the world, we did our due diligence and consulted the report produced by Mercer’s Consulting, which ranked the most expensive cities in the world to live in according to the price of a basket of goods which is frequently purchased by expatriates. Of course, such a ranking has its inherent biases, mainly in the fact that it is based on goods purchased by expatriates and hence, may not represent a completely accurate ranking. Hence, we used a report by Global Property Guide, which ranked cities in the world according to buying price per square meter of any property in the country. However, we have only included cities which feature on both lists. Otherwise, Monaco would probably have topped the list, considering that it has a price per square meter of $60,114 which is nearly twice as high as the next most expensive city. However, it was not included in Mercer’s ranking since it is a republic and not just a city, which is why we did not include it in our rankings either. Using multiple criteria helps cancel out the biases which are inherently present in any specific factor, helping to produce more accurate rankings.
20. Helsinki, Finland
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 67
Cost of property per square meter: $8,390
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 14
19. Bangkok, Thailand
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 45
Cost of property per square meter: $3,952
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 34
18. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 19
Cost of property per square meter: $2,813
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 57
17. Rome, Italy
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 59
Cost of property per square meter: $8,007
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 16
16. Dublin, Ireland
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 49
Cost of property per square meter: $5,611
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 25
15. Vienna, Austria
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 56
Cost of property per square meter: $14,592
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 8
14. Taipei, Taiwan
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 41
Cost of property per square meter: $7,112
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 19
13. Moscow, Russia
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 50
Cost of property per square meter: $16,021
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 6
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12. Paris, France
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 46
Cost of property per square meter: $18,415
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 5
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11. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 23
Cost of property per square meter: $5,037
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 27
10. Sydney, Australia
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 31
Cost of property per square meter: $7,250
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 18
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 24
Cost of property per square meter: $5,778
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 24
8. Tel Aviv, Israel
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 18
Cost of property per square meter: $10,166
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 12
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7. Shanghai, China
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 6
Cost of property per square meter: $6,932
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 21
6. Tokyo, Japan
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 11
Cost of property per square meter: $10,784
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 11
5. New York City, United States of America
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 16
Cost of property per square meter: $18,499
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 4
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4. London, United Kingdom
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 12
Cost of property per square meter: $13,529
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 2
3. Geneva, Switzerland
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 5
Cost of property per square meter: $8,390
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 9
2. Singapore
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 4
Cost of property per square meter: $15,251
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 7
1. Hong Kong
Ranking according to Mercer Consulting: 2
Cost of property per square meter: $22,814
Ranking according to cost of property per square meter: 3
With a cost per square meter of over $22,000, and an extremely high cost of living as per Mercer’s Consulting, Hong Kong is the most expensive city in the world to live in.
