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You are here: Home / Prepping the Move / Narrowing Your Country/City Search / World’s Most and Least Expensive Cities

World’s Most and Least Expensive Cities

April 28, 2010 by FutureExpat

Xpatulator.com has just released its annual International Cost of Living Ranking. They listed 282 global locations (some large countries had separate rankings for several major cities), based on costs of specific items in 13 categories. The 13 “baskets” of goods and services are divided into Alcohol & Tobacco, Clothing, Communication, Education, Furniture & Appliances, Grocery, Healthcare, Household, Miscellaneous, Personal Care, Recreation & Culture, Restaurants, Meals Out & Hotel, and Transport.

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Rainbow Bridge Tokyo

Most Expensive Cities

I was surprised to see Brasilia and Caracas among the world’s most expensive expat cities, but the other eight were expected.

  1. Tokyo, Japan
  2. Geneva, Switzerland
  3. Brasilia, Brazil
  4. Zurich, Switzerland
  5. Oslo, Norway
  6. Copenhagen, Denmark
  7. Caracas, Venezuela
  8. Hong Kong, China
  9. Vaduz, Liechtenstein
  10. Sydney, Australia

Least Expensive Cities

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The ten least expensive cities, counting down from the cheapest, are:

  1. 282 Harare, Zimbabwe
  2. 281 Tianjin, China
  3. 280 Sanaa, Yemen
  4. 279 Buenos Aires, Argentina
  5. 278 Thimphu, Bhutan
  6. 277 Dushanbe, Tajikistan
  7. 276 Colombo, Sri Lanka
  8. 275 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
  9. 274 Ecuador, Quito
  10. 273 Pakistan, Karachi

Frankly, I was surprised to see Buenos Aires included here as several expats I follow have been saying it’s become much more expensive. . .

You can view the entire list here.

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Filed Under: Narrowing Your Country/City Search, Prepping the Move, Quality of Life Tagged With: Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Caracas, cities, Copenhagen, Geneva, Hong Kong, least expensive, most expensive, Oslo, Sydney, Tokyo, Vaduz, world, Zurich

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