U.S.-based Mercer Human Resource Consulting has released its annual list of the “World’s Most Expensive Cities” and this year Moscow has taken over the top spot.
The index “measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment,” and is used by companies to determine cost-of-living adjustments when sending employees abroad to work.
Moscow, which was the world’s fourth most expensive city last year based upon these factors, leaped over Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and London to claim the top spot this year. New York, the most expensive American city, grabbed 11th place.
Check out this interesting article from The Moscow Times debating the accuracy of the Mercer study which claims, for example, that a cup of coffee in Moscow costs $5.62 when in reality it is much cheaper.