Azernews.Az

yBAKU – The Azerbaijani capital Baku remains one of the world’s most expensive cities, though it dropped to the 49th ranking this year compared to 2010 when it was in the top 30, human resource firm ECA International has said.

The group said in its 2011 report that Tokyo remains the world’s most expensive city. The Norwegian capital Oslo remains the most expensive location surveyed in Europe and the second most expensive globally. It is followed by Nagoya, Stavanger and Yokohama, while the Swiss city Zurich ranked sixth.

Prices have increased on average by 2.7% overall in Australia. Price increases were also reported in Papua New Guinea (9.7%), Bangladesh (7%), Vietnam (6.2%), Indonesia (5.8%) and Hong Kong (5.5%), and these countries are among the Asia Pacific economies that have seen the highest rates of price inflation.

Hanoi is the Asian location that has fallen most in the ranking from 200 to 224 while Karachi (at 240) remains the cheapest location in Asia and globally.

Moscow was rated as the world’s 14th most expensive city.

In the Americas, Caracas, which ranked 15th, is the most expensive location in the region for international assignees - a result of rampant inflation. The Venezuelan capital is followed by Brazilian locations Rio de Janeiro (23rd) and Sao Paolo (27th).

In North America, Vancouver (37th) is the most expensive location for assignees, followed by Ottawa (40th), Toronto (42nd) and Manhattan (44th).

Luanda, Angola, ranked seventh globally, is the most expensive location for international assignees in Africa followed by Libreville (Gabon) and Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo). While these locations are among some of the most expensive surveyed, Africa is also home to some of the least expensive locations, with Maseru (Lesotho), Alexandria (Egypt) and Durban (South Africa) ranked 237th, 235th and 225th respectively.

In the Middle East, Tel Aviv, ranked 29th globally, is the most expensive location surveyed while Dubai is 175th. Jeddah, 234th is the least expensive.

ECA International’s cost of living indices are calculated based upon surveys carried out annually in March and September using a basket of day-to-day goods and services.

ECA International is the world’s leader in the development and provision of solutions for the management and assignment of employees around the world.