The Hindu Business Line : Bangalore, Chennai `least expensive' cities

FOR the residents of Bangalore and Chennai it's perhaps time to uncork the champagne, for the two cities have been rated among the least expensive to live in by a worldwide survey carried out by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

The survey, which covered 144 cities, ranked Bangalore at 141 (down from 137 last year) and Chennai at 138 (down from 133 last year). However, the survey found that compared to last year, the cost of living in both New Delhi and Mumbai has gone up. While New Delhi's rank has risen from 116 to 110, Mumbai has gone up from 109 to 105.

Globally, Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city, according to the survey, while Tokyo remains the world's most expensive city followed by Osaka. The survey, which was carried out in March this year, ranked London as Europe's most expensive city. While London takes the third spot on the list, New York is ranked 13. Moscow is in the fourth place and Geneva is ranked sixth.

The survey, which measures the comparative cost of about 200 products and services, including food, housing, clothing, transport and entertainment in each location, uses New York as the base city with 100 points.

According to the company, governments and corporates use the information thrown up by the survey to determine compensation and allowances for their expatriate employees.

Interestingly, the survey found that four of the world's 10 most expensive cities to live in are in Asia. Besides Tokyo and Osaka, the two other are Seoul in fifth place and Hong Kong in ninth place. According to the study, there have been some significant changes in the rankings this year primarily due to the exchange rate fluctuations, particularly of the US dollar and the Euro. So, for example, Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have dropped significantly in the rankings as the currency is pegged to the US dollar and has been affected by its depreciation.

Similarly, the strength of the Canadian dollar has made cities from that country move up the rankings. Toronto, ranked 82, is the most expensive Canadian city. Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand too have been affected by currency fluctuations and are ranked 69 and 76, respectively. Sydney, ranked 20th, is Australia's most expensive city.

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