Luanda remains most expensive city

The world's most expensive cities for expatriates were revealed yesterday by consultancy firm Mercer. Luanda, the capital of Angola, remained the world's most expensive city to live in for the second year running as accommodation prices hit a record. But also on the list were a host of Asian and Western capitals, including Tokyo, which clocked in at second again this year the notoriously expensive Japanese capital boasts some of the highest rents in the world. New York and London both fell in the rankings but other European cities, including Dublin, remained stable. But it was Africa, in the shape of Angola and Chad, that had a major presence in the rankings again this year, mainly due to sky-high rental costs and the price of imported food. "Finding good and secure accommodation for expatriate employees is a real challenge in most of the African cities on the list and costs can be significant," Nathalie Constantin-Metral, a senior researcher at Mercer, said in the report. "Accommodation prices are currently at record levels in cities like Luanda and this is generally the main reason why we find so many African cities high up in the ranking." Brazil's two biggest cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, are among the highest climbers on the list of the world's most expensive cities, as the nation's economic growth continues to outpace Europe and the US. Sao Paulo jumped to 10th place in the list of 214 cities, from 21st last year, while Rio de Janeiro surged to 12th from 29th. Tokyo retained second spot, while Geneva, at 5th, and Zurich, at 7th, were Europe's only top 10 entries. No US city made the top 10. Moscow was fourth. Brazil's economy grew by 7.5 per cent last year, the most in two decades, and consumer prices are estimated to rise 6.3 per cent this year, according to the median forecast in a July 8 central bank survey of about 100 economists published yesterday. Singapore moved to 8th from 11th while New York City dropped to 32nd spot from 27th and London slipped one place to 18th. Dublin moved to 58th most expensive city from 42nd. From / Gulf News