According to the recently published Cost of Living (COL) Survey 2008 released today, Tokyo is the most expensive city to work and live in Asia.

The research was carried out and released by Mercer Consulting, a major consulting firm specializing in human resource, consulting, outsourcing and investment services.

The survey was carried out by measuring the comparative cost of over 200 items covering the housing, food, transportation, clothing, household goods, services, entertainment and so on.

Mercer’s survey was considered as one of the most comprehensive cost of living surveys around in the world and is mainly used to assist multinational companies and the respective government to determine the salary and compensation package to expatriates coming to work in their countries.

Tokyo was followed by its neighbor’s capital, Seoul, then Hong Kong, Osaka and Singapore in 5th position. Last year Seoul topped the table with Tokyo trailing in second and with the new result, the two swapped places with each other.

In 6th to 10th positions come Beijing, Shanghai, Almaty (Kazakhstan), Mumbai (India) and New Delhi.

10 top ranking cities in Asia:

1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Seoul, South Korea
3. Hong Kong
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Singapore
6. Beijing, China
7. Shanghai, China
8. Almaty, Kazakhstan
9. Mumbai, India
10. New Delhi, India

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