Top Ten Costliest Cities

Ever wondered which are the costliest cities in the world to live in? Following is a list of the top 10 cities in the world where it was most expensive to live in early 2009 as defined by the Economist.

1. Tokyo

The Japanese capital city of Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world to live in. Tokyo is also the hub of the world’s biggest metropolitan area in terms of both economy and population. The Tokyo stock exchange is one of the world’s largest, and is the largest one in Japan. Many international companies and some of their regional offices are based in Tokyo. The large size of the population has also led to a huge demand for space. All these factors combine to make Tokyo the most expensive city in the world in which to live.

2. Osaka-Kobe

The second costliest cities are the two linked cities in Japan – Osaka and Kobe. Housing is expensive due to the extremely high population density, and there are other costs as well. The increased land cost coupled with high wages has made the Osaka-Kobe region the second most expensive region in the world to live.

3. Paris

Paris, the capital city of France, is third on the list of costliest cities in the world. The city is extremely famous for its tourist appeal, which generates a large amount of money for the local economy. The economy of Paris is quite strong, which has led to an increased cost of living.

4. Copenhagen

The fourth costliest city in the world, Copenhagen, is also the capital city of a Scandinavian country namely Denmark. This city is not only an important political capital city but the dominant city economically and culturally. Many regional and international offices have their bases in Copenhagen. Recently Copenhagen and Denmark as a whole have witnessed rapid growth, both domestically and internationally.

5. Oslo

The city with the fifth highest cost of living is the Norwegian capital city of Oslo. Oslo is Norway’s biggest city in terms of population and economy. It is also a well developed city with income derived from various sources. These sources include maritime engineering, tourism, offshore oil, and gas reserves.

6. Zurich

Located in Switzerland, Zurich comes sixth on the list of most expensive cities in the world in terms of living costs. The Swiss Economy depends on its financial services, and many multinational companies such as Zurich Financial Services, UBS and Credit Suisse are based here. There are many other international companies such as IBM, Google and Microsoft that have facilities here as well.

7. Helsinki

In terms of the cost of living, Helsinki comes in seventh out of all the cities in the world. It is the capital of Finland and situated next to the Gulf of Finland in the far south of the country. The city also has a relatively high tax rate. This coupled with the huge wealth generated is why Helsinki ranks as the city with the seventh highest cost of living in the world.

8. Frankfurt

Frankfurt is the eighth most expensive city to live in. It is an important city in Germany and is situated on the Main River. It is the biggest financial centre of mainland Europe, and is home to both the German and European central banks. All these factors have made Frankfurt the eighth most expensive city in the world to live in.

9. Geneva

Nestled between Lake Geneva and the Alps in Switzerland, Geneva is a city with a very high cost of living. The headquarters of the International Committee of Red Cross is also located in Geneva and it is the sixth most important financial centre in the world. All of these factors have made Geneva the ninth costliest city worldwide.

10. Singapore

Located in South East Asia, Singapore has a population density of almost 7,000 people per km2. Due to its business friendly policies, the city has an extremely strong economy which has led several corporations to base themselves there. The booming economy combined with a limited potential for land expansion makes Singapore the tenth most expensive city in the world to live.