Hong Kong is still cheaper than Singapore for expats

Asian cities dominate the top 10 list.

Singapore retains its title as the world’s most expensive city for a fourth consecutive year in a top ten that may have a familiar feel to it, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.

Not only has Singapore stayed top but Hong Kong remains second, closely followed by Zurich. The latest survey has also seen a return to the top ten most expensive cities for Tokyo and Osaka.

Here's more from the report:

The Japanese capital, which was the world’s most expensive city until 2012, has moved seven places up the ranking owing to a sustained recovery in the strength of the Japanese yen.

With Japanese cities returning to the fold, Asia now accounts for half of the ten most expensive cities ranked. Western Europe accounts for a further four cities, while New York City is the lone North American representative.

The Big Apple, which rose to seventh place last year, has fallen to ninth owing to a slight weakening of the US dollar, which has also affected the position of other US cities. This, however, still represents a comparatively sharp increase in the relative cost of living compared with five years ago, when New York was ranked 46th.

Check the table below to compare prices of commodities from the top ten most expensive cities.