The website Xpatulator.com which publishes Cost of Living information has published its January 2011 list of most expensive places to live.

Here are the results:

1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Caracas, Venezuela
3. Hong Kong, China
4. Geneva, Switzerland
5. Zurich, Switzerland
6. Osaka, Japan
7. Sao Paulo, Brazil
8. Oslo, Norway
9. Nagoya, Japan
10. Moscow, Russia

They also go in detail about how much things cost in Japan:

Tokyo is the costliest city in the world in which to live as at January 2011.

Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world in which to live, out of 300 global locations, surveyed as at January 2011. While Tokyo is average in terms of the cost of items such as education (ranked 144) and alcohol & tobacco (ranked 138), it is the most expensive place in the world for groceries, healthcare, and household accommodation costs. As the most expensive city in the world, Tokyo has an overall cost of living index of 158.4 (New York = 100). In comparison to the next 3 cities to host the FIFA Soccer World Cup (SWC) Tokyo is 38% more expensive than Rio de Janeiro (SWC 2014), 36% more expensive than Moscow (SWC 2018), and 65% more expensive than Doha (SWC 2022). That means that an expatriate earning USD$5,000 per month in Doha would need to earn USD$8,250 per month in Tokyo to enable them to have the same purchasing power, and therefore a similar standard of living as they had in Doha.

In many International Relocation polices, to calculate between differences in prices between home and host country Paragon Relocation utilizes best in class up-to-date Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) data to compensate employees for these price differences on International Assignments. Paragon specializes in International Relocation Program Design with policies that treat our client’s employees fairly and keeps overall program costs low even in the most expensive regions of the world.

This was posted by

Mike Morabito – who has written 210 posts on The Paragon Relocation Blog.

Mike has over 10 years of relocation experience working for Paragon Relocation. Mike is recognized by Worldwide ERC as a Certified Relocation Professional (CRP) and a Global Mobility Specialist (GMS).

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