Most Expensive Place to Live: Singapore and Hong Kong Top Priciest Cities List

hong kong
Pro-democracy protesters hold up their mobile phones during a campaign to kick off the Occupy Central civil disobedience event in Hong Kong on August 31, 2014. Hong Kong is the second most expensive city in... Tyrone Siu/REUTERS

Singapore and Hong Kong are among the world's most expensive cities, along with a slew of other cities in Asian countries.

Singapore has been considered the most expensive city for the past four years while Hong Kong ranked the second-priciest place to live, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. Although Tokyo reigned as the priciest city for years until dropping to the 11th most expensive city in 2012, an economic resurgence of Japan's yen caused the city to jump up seven spots to the fourth most expensive city. Osaka landed at number five.

The survey, released Tuesday, analyzed prices of more than 150 items related to everyday living—like a loaf of bread—in 133 cities across the globe. While it was no surprise to see Singapore topping the list once again, mostly due to the city's high cost of owning a car and its expensive clothing, the report noted that food and drink in Singapore were significantly cheaper than other ranking cities, falling closer in line with costs of living in Shanghai, ranked as the 16th most expensive city.

Meanwhile, the only place in the U.S. to rank in the top 10 most expensive cities was New York City, which landed at number nine. Los Angeles came close behind as the 11th priciest city in the world.

The report blamed the U.S.' "weakening" dollar for New York's fall from the seventh most expensive city in the world down to number nine.

Several European countries topped the list as well, including Zurich, Switzerland, which was the third most expensive place. Geneva and Paris were tied for the seventh most expensive city while Copenhagen tied with New York as the ninth most expensive place to live.

Asia's economy has grown significantly over the last 25 years, causing the continent to represent 40 percent of the global economy in 2016, according to a 2016 International Monetary Fund report. On average, the region's economy sees an increase of around six percent a year.

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