Mumbai is the most expensive Indian city

Mumbai is the most expensive city to live in, in India, according to the annual cost of living survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Despite that, Mumbai is still the 105th most expensive city in the world.

The cost of living in Delhi, which is the second most expensive city in India, is just marginally less than that in Mumbai. Delhi stands at 110th spot in the worldwide survey.

Chennai, at 138th, and Bangalore, at 141st spot, are the third and most expensive cities in India.

The world's most expensive cities, however, are Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, while Asuncion in Paraguay is cheapest.

Ottawa in Canada is the cheapest North American city, says the survey. London moves down one position in the rankings to take third place, followed by Moscow which also drops a place this year.

With New York as the base city scoring 100 points, Tokyo scores 134.7 and is more than three times costlier than Asuncion, which has an index of 40.3.

Mercer's survey covers 144 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.

Click here for the list of 144 cities

It is considered the world's most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

"Currency fluctuations and exchange rates can have a huge impact on how much expatriates receive and what they can buy with that money," commented Yvonne Sonsino, Partner at Mercer, in a press statement.

Indicative table; all figures in Indian rupees

Europe

London remains the most expensive city in Europe, with a score of 120.3. Other UK cities are less costly, with Glasgow in 40th position and Birmingham in 47th place (scores 87.5 and 85.8).

Moscow is the second most expensive city in Europe ranked in 4th position (119), followed by Geneva in 6th place (113.5) and Zurich in 7th place (112.1). Other high-scoring cities include Copenhagen ranked 8th (110), Oslo, which has moved up from 15th to 10th place due mainly to the appreciation of the Norwegian Krone against the US dollar, and Milan ranked 11th (104.9).

Budapest in Hungary ranks in 24th position (score 93.3) and is the costliest city of the countries that joined the EU last year.

Bucharest in Romania is the least expensive European city in 103rd place (71.4), followed by Limassol in Cyprus ranked 100th (71.9).

The Americas

New York remains the most expensive city in North America, at 13th position in the rankings (score 100). Other costly cities include Los Angeles ranked 44 (86.7), San Francisco in 50th place (84.9) and Chicago in 52nd position (84.6).

Washington DC takes 78th place (77.4). Winston Salem is the cheapest US city surveyed, ranked 119th (66.6).

Toronto is the most expensive city and takes 82nd place (76.2) in the rankings, while Ottawa is the least expensive Canadian city and takes 122nd position (66.4).

Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city globally, at 144th position with a score of 40.3. Other cheap cities include Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Caracas in places 142 (score 50.3.), 140 (53.5) and 138 (54.4), respectively. Lima in Peru is still the most expensive city in South America at position 118 with a score of 66.9.

San Juan in Puerto Rico is the costliest city in Central America and the Caribbean, ranked 74th (score 77.7). San Jose is the least expensive in 135th place (58), replacing Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic which has moved up to 99th place (72.3) due to the appreciation of the Dominican Peso against the US dollar and low inflation last year.

Asia

Four of the world's ten costliest cities are in Asia, with Tokyo being the most expensive city globally. Osaka takes 2nd position due to the strengthening of the Japanese Yen relative to the US dollar, (121.8) followed by Seoul in 5th place (115.4) and Hong Kong ranked 9th (109.5).

Beijing is at position 19 (score 95.6) followed by Shanghai in 30th place (90.4).

Australasia

Auckland and Wellington move up in the rankings this year to positions 69 and 76, respectively, (scores 79.6 and 77.5) due to the significant appreciation of the New Zealand dollar against the US dollar. Sydney is still the most expensive city in the region at 20th place with a score of 95.2. Other high-scoring cities in Australia include Melbourne in 68th position (80) and Brisbane in 84th place (74.9).