 According to ECA International, Tokyo is the most expensive city in the Asia  FRONT PAGE Site Search About us    UBS: Most expensive and richest cities ECA: Most expensive cities EIU: Most expensive cities Mercer: Most expensive cities UK and European cities compared Global Cities Index World's top cities World's richest cities (GDP) Richest cities (earnings) Most powerful cities Urban population growth from now to 2030 World's best financial cities Europe's top city brands European growth cities 2009 Real estate USA Real estate Europe European business cities Best world cities to live in World's largest cities and their mayors 2011  Worldwide | Elections | North America | Latin America | Europe | Asia | Africa |                           |
The most expensive cities in Asia
8 December 2011: Tokyo tops the ranking again, regionally and globally The Japanese yen has remained strong and Tokyo remains the most expensive location in the region. For the second consecutive year, it is also the most costly globally. TABLE |
| 2018 Earnings, Prices & Wealth Survey ||| Introduction ||| The most expensive cities ||| The richest cities ||| The most powerful cities ||| The Big Mac Guide ||| |
||
The most expensive locations in mainland China are Beijing, in 35th position globally, and Shanghai in 41st. Of the Asian locations surveyed, Chinese provincial capitals have experienced the largest climbs up the global rankings: Chengdu rose 21 places to 144th place and Wuhan up 20 places to 146. On average, the actual prices of goods and services commonly purchased by international assignees have risen by nine per cent in China in the last 12 months.
A strong won means that Korean locations have maintained their positions towards the top of the global ranking. While Seoul has only risen one place to 21 in the last year, this is still significantly higher than its position two years ago in 56th place. Within the region it ranks as the 5th most expensive location for international assignees, ahead of Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Locations in Pakistan come at the bottom of the regional ranking, with Karachi ranked 237th globally.
Impact of rising prices
The last 12 months have seen considerable increases in the cost of food, oil and other commodities in many parts of the world. Within the region, some of the biggest increases seen in the local prices of items in ECA's basket of goods and services have been witnessed in Bangladesh (15%), Vietnam (14.2%) and India (13.3%). On average, prices have risen by just over 8% in Asia.
"While, in locations like Singapore, price inflation has worked alongside exchange rate movements to push a location up the cost of living ranking, in other cases currency fluctuations are still outweighing the impact of inflation,” explained an ECA spokesman. “For example, despite dramatic price increases in Vietnam, the devaluation of the dong earlier this year has caused locations there to drop down the ranking. So while locals will see their costs going up, the spending power of assignees will have increased due to the effect of exchange rates."
Most expensive Asian cities
|
Asia Ranking 2011
|
City
|
Global Ranking 2011
|
|
1
|
Tokyo |
1
|
|
2
|
Nagoya |
4
|
|
3
|
Yokohama |
6
|
|
4
|
Kobe |
10
|
|
5
|
Seoul |
21
|
|
6
|
Singapore |
31
|
|
7
|
Beijing |
35
|
|
8
|
Shanghai |
41
|
|
9
|
Hong Kong |
58
|
|
10
|
Busan |
63
|
|
11
|
Ulsan |
77
|
|
12
|
Taipei |
80
|
|
13
|
Guangzhou |
84
|
|
14
|
Shenzhen |
89
|
|
15
|
Jakarta |
90
|
|
16
|
Kaohsiung |
110
|
|
17
|
Shenyang |
112
|
|
18
|
Tianjin |
116
|
|
19
|
Qingdao |
119
|
|
20
|
Dalian |
124
|
|
21
|
Chongqing |
135
|
|
22
|
Bangkok |
140
|
|
23
|
Suzhou |
143
|
|
24
|
Chengdu |
144
|
|
25
|
Wuhan |
146
|
|
25
|
Xiamen |
146
|
|
27
|
Nanjing |
153
|
|
28
|
Xi'an |
155
|
|
29
|
Surabaya |
162
|
|
30
|
Kuala Lumpur |
179
|
|
31
|
Chiang Mai |
181
|
|
32
|
Metro-Manila |
187
|
|
33
|
Vientiane |
191
|
|
34
|
New Delhi |
194
|
|
35
|
Johor Bahru |
196
|
|
36
|
Mumbai |
206
|
|
37
|
George Town |
208
|
|
38
|
Colombo |
209
|
|
39
|
Ulaanbaatar |
210
|
|
40
|
Dhaka |
215
|
|
41
|
Hanoi |
217
|
|
42
|
Bangalore |
220
|
|
43
|
Ho Chi Minh City |
224
|
|
44
|
Chennai |
225
|
|
45
|
Hyderabad |
226
|
|
46
|
Pune |
230
|
|
47
|
Kolkata |
233
|
|
48
|
Islamabad |
236
|
|
49
|
Karachi |
237
|
ECA research: | World table | Europe table | Asian table |
Follow @City_Mayors
Related research
| THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND RICHEST CITIES IN THE WORLD UBS survey (2012): Most expensiv and richeste cities (Intro) | World's most expensive cities (table) | Richest cities by personal earnings (table) | Richest cities by purchasing power (table | The iPod index | ECA International survey (2011): Introduction | Table: World | Table: Europe | Table: Asia | Mercer survey (2012): Most expensive cities EIU survey (2013): Most expensive cities RICHEST CITIES BY GDP Introduction | 150 richest cities in 2005 | 150 richest cities in 2020 | Europe's richest cities | |
