10 Most Expensive Cities in the World

10 Most Expensive Cities in the World

In what may be something of a relief to Americans, no U.S. city ranked among the world’s 10 most expensive places to live. On the other hand, it’s probably not a surprise that no U.S. city made the list of the globe’s cheapest places, either.

Despite the human and economic cost of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the yen has strengthened significantly over the last two years, pushing Tokyo back to the top of the rankings, the survey says.

For comparison, the Economist uses an index where the cost of living in New York equals 100. So Tokyo, with a top index ranking of 161, may be thought of as 61 percent more expensive than New York. Cost indexes are shown in parentheses.

(iStock Photo)

More From MoneyWatch:
50 Best Cities for Job Hunters
World’s Most Expensive Home: $1 Billion Skyscraper
Most Expensive U.S. Cities for Home Buyers