Rating: the most expensive cities in the world according to 2012 data

Consulting company MNRC, which specializes in consultations on the selection of personnel for the international business sector, as a rule, every year makes for foreigners a rating list "The most expensive cities in the world". In the process of compiling this rating take into account the situation in more than 200 of the world's largest cities on 6 continents. At the same time, they are evaluated on 200 parameters, the most important of which are: geographic location, cost of food, transportation, housing, clothing and medical services.

Assess the most expensive cities in the world also, based on a comparison with the cost of living in New York, the standard of living in which is considered the base.

So, the most expensive city in the world in 2012 is Tokyo, and the capital of Japan is located at the very first stage of this rating. In second place was Luanda (Angola), on the third - Osaka, another city of Japan. The fourth place was taken by Moscow, but closes the top five of the rating - Geneva, the most beautiful city in Switzerland.

Important movements in the rating "The most expensive cities in the world" are more connected with fluctuations in the world currency exchange rate. Thus, life in most European cities is cheaper due to the economic crisis in the European zone. The most significant drop in the index of the cost of living for foreigners is recorded in Athens, once occupied 24th place, and now moved as much as the 77th!

Conversely, many cities in the Asia-Pacific region have significantly improved their positions in the ranking "The Most Expensive Cities in the World". The biggest rise was recorded in New Zealand and Australia. North America also boasts of its growth in the rating, thanks to the US dollar, which has strengthened more than all other world currencies.

According to the full list of ratings "The Most Expensive Cities in the World" - such places are odd in Africa. This is more likely due to the fact that the cost of living is based on a comparison of the basic services, the prices of the goods of certain brands that are purchased in these countries abroad, so they are hard to find. And therefore they are quite expensive.

For example, ranked second in the ranking of Luanda, the capital of Angola, has very high prices for accommodation. And all because of high inflation and unsatisfactory state of infrastructure, the fault of which was civil war.

The cheapest for foreigners, according to MNRC, however, like last year, remains the Pakistani city of Karachi, where costs are three times lower than in Tokyo.

Well, on the first place in the ranking of "The cheapest cities in the world" there were just two cities - Mumbai and, as we already said, Karachi. On the second - Indian New Delhi, and on the third - Nepal. Then comes Bucharest and Algeria. Behind them - Colombo (Sri Lanka), in seventh place - Panama, on the eighth - Saudi Arabia, Jeddah and Tehran.

The main criteria for selecting the cheapest cities are: the cost of transportation in public transport, the cost of food, rental housing, the cost of clothing and utilities.