Luanda (Angola) is still elected as the most expensive in the world in 2011 by Mercer Institution. Previously, ECA International Institution has crown Luanda in the top position of the most expensive city in the world, passing Tokyo, Japan.

Three continents were dominated the ranking of these categories that expected will still continue in 2012. The third ones are Asia, Africa and Europe.

The interesting is London was fallen from the position in the top 10 to the eighteenth position and vice versa Singapore and Sao Paolo was poke to the top 10. In the third position is N’Djamena in Chad. South East Asia has been only represented by Singapore.

Japan and Swiss have placed two cities in the top 10. Those are Osaka and Tokyo from Japan and Zurich and Geneva from Swiss. Indeed, to stay in those several cities feels expensive in the cost of leaving.

The survey has been one in 214 cities in 5 continents by involving over 100 countries. the subject of the survey are the expatriates who work and obtain income in those cities surveyed.

A number of indicators are to be an important point deciding the ranking of the most expensive cities in the world. First, it is related to the fluctuation of US dollar currency. Those expatriates have been salaried by US dollars and highly dependent with the well-established level, luxury and the easiness to live by owning the dollars to the local currency.

The formula was simple: the higher the dollar, the cheaper the cost of living for those expatriates. On the other hand is the further weak the more expensive the cost of living.

There are 200 items which have been included related to the cost of living in the cities surveyed. By all means, the most expensive was property either house or apartment. And the others were transportation, food, lifestyle, night life, excursion and so forth.

London, Paris, Milan and Barcelona are the best example for the weakening of their position as the most expensive cities in the world. It has happened because of the currency of Pounds (London) and Euro in these couple years that running weak to US Dollars. The impact is cost of living of expatriates were running cheaper. The cost of house that was cheap beforehand, now it is cheaper (if the exchange rate used is 1.000 US dollars each month, to be only 700 US dollars)

In Luanda, the local currency is running higher to US Dollars, so do in Japan and Singapore. By the stability of the economics, now Dollar Singapore is to be the king that difficult to be shaken.

Second factor is related to the problem of rising prices for both goods and services or in the economics language called Inflation.

This survey is very important for companies that own branch office in many countries. in that way, they can decide amount of salary given to their employees and professionals.

The complete top 10 of the most expensive cities in the world was listed in the following table below.

The table of the top 10 most expensive cities in the world 2011

1. Luanda (Angola)
2. Tokyo (Japan)
3. Ndjamena (Chad)
4. Moscow (Russia)
5. Geneva (Swiss)
6. Osaka (Japan)
7. Zurich (Swiss)
8. Singapore (Singapore)
9. Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
10. Sao Paulo (Brazil)