A recent survey investigated the cost of living in Asian cities. The results reveal that Tokyo is the most expensive city to live in; whereas Beijing ranked 10th and Shanghai 12th, according to Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao.
The survey, conducted by human resources solutions provider ECA International, shows that Tokyo is the most expensive city in terms of living expenses in Asia; and ranks 13 in the world.
In Asia, the top seven cities with the highest cost of living are all in Japan and South Korea, including Tokyo (1st), Yokohama (2nd), Seoul (3rd) and Nagoya (4th). Among Chinese cities, Hong Kong ranked 9th, Beijing 10th, Taipei 11th and Shanghai 12th. Among the top 25 cities, as many as 22 cities are in Japan, South Korea and China, with the exception of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Sakhalin, Russia (8th), Singapore and Jakarta (22nd).
ECA distributes a cost of living survey twice a year, and compares 128 kinds of consumer goods and services city foreign nationals generally purchase in 370 cities. Multinational companies calculate the staff salaries in local areas according to the survey. ECA said the inflation rate, the supply of products and currency exchange rates have an impact on a foreign national's cost of living; and these factors will significantly affect the salaries of foreign nationals.
The company released the results and also pointed out that in September 2007 and March 2008 surveys, inflation and currency exchange rates had a significant impact on the city's cost of living ranking.
By People's Daily Online
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