Move Over Tokyo, the Most Expensive City is…

Financial difficulties following Fukushima disaster edges out Japan's capital, while both the world's most and least expensive cities remain in Asia

Vivek Prakash / Reuters

In the aftermath of the Fukushima power plant disaster, Tokyo has forfeited the dubious merit of being the world's most expensive city.

In the Economist Intelligence Unit's biannual report, ranking 131 global cities, Singapore is instead throned, while the Japanese capital slumps to a sixth place.

Singapore's ascension is on the back of soaring living costs, currency appreciation and solid price inflation. The city-state's meager natural resources makes it heavily reliant on energy and water imports, transport costs are almost three times higher than New York and it is the most expensive place to buy clothes in the world.

The world's 10 most expensive cities to live in:

1. Singapore

2. Paris

3. Oslo

4. Zurich

5. Sydney

6. Caracas, Geneva, Melbourne, Tokyo

10. Copenhagen

The bottom of the list features a scrum of South Asian metropolises. 'Although India has been tipped for future growth, much of this is driven by its large population and the untapped potential within the economy,' says the EIU.

The five least expensive global cities to live in:

127. Damascus, Kathmandu

129. New Delhi

130. Karachi

131. Mumbai

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