New list: Most and Least Expensive Cities

Stop and ask yourself what’s the most expensive city in the world to live in, or the cheapest.

Almost no matter what you thought, you’re in for surprises on the latest edition of Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey, which has been surveying the cost of more than 200 items in more than 200 cities for 27 years. The basket includes accommodation, transportation, food and household items.

Scandinavian cities have a reputation for expensive living, but it turns out that the most expensive, Copenhagen, is only 16th on the list—barely above London, another common choice for expensive—and two steps cheaper than New York. Above New York, among others are three Swiss cities, three Chinese cities and Hong Kong. Surprise winner(?): Ashgabat, in Turkmenistan.

At the other end of the chain, the twenty cheapest cities follow a more predictable pattern, with many cities in Africa on the list and few in Europe. The absolute cheapest? Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan—only one country east of Turkmenistan.

Here are the lists:

CHEAPEST

1. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
2. Lusaka, Zambia
3. Tbilisi, Georgia
4. Tunis, Tunisia
5. Brasilia, Brazil
6. Windhoek, Namibia
7. Tashkent, Uzbekistan
8. Gaborone, Botswana
9. Karachi, Pakistan
10. Banjul, Gambia
11. Islamabad, Pakistan
12. Algiers, Algeria
13. Minsk, Belarus
14. Managua, Nicaragua
15. Yerevan, Armenia
16. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
17. Almaty, Kazakhstan
18. Skopje, North Macedonia
19. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
20. Blantyre, Malawi

MOST EXPENSIVE

1. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
2. Hong Kong
3. Beirut, Lebanon
4. Tokyo, Japan
5. Zurich, Switzerland
6. Shanghai, China
7. Singapore
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Beijing, China
10. Bern, Switzerland
11. Seoul, South Korea
12. Shenzhen, China
13. Ndjamena, Chad
14. New York City, USA
15. Tel Aviv, Israel
16. Copenhagen, Denmark
17. Guangzhou, China
18. London, UK
19. Lagos, Nigeria
20. Libreville, Gabon

    Title image: Ashgabat, Turkmenistan