海角大神

2009 Cost of Living Survey: The 10 most expensive cities

10/19/2009 12:51 pm ET TOKYO, JAPAN: Tokyo knocked last year's most expensive city, Moscow, off the top of the chart, according to an annual Cost of Living Survey by Mercer, an international consulting firm. The survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. Mercer claims this is the world's most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowance for their expatriate employees. The survey, conducted in March, uses New York as the base city for the index, with currency moves measured against the dollar. Here, a light display is relfected on a window of a skyscraper as the Tokyo Bay area can be seen in the background from a viewing deck of the Tokyo Tower.