London drops down list of world’s most expensive cities
London has dropped five places in the latest ranking of the most expensive cities to live in, slipping behind rivals from Europe, Asia, Africa and America.
The capital was found to be the 17th priciest city in the world to call home on a calculation which takes into account housing, subsistence, travel and entertainment costs, down from 12th place last year.
Hong Kong was named the most expensive, taking over from Luanda, the capital of Angola which claimed the top spot last year. Zurich was the most expensive European city, coming in at third place as London joined a total of three Swiss cities to complete Europe's entrants in the top 20.
Top 20
| City | Ranking (last year) |
| Hong Kong | 1 (2) |
| Luanda, Angola | 2 (1) |
| Zurich, Switzerland | 3 (3) |
| Singapore | 4 (4) |
| Tokyo, Japan | 5 (11) |
| Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo | 6 (13) |
| Shanghai, China | 7 (6) |
| Geneva, Switzerland | 8 (5) |
| Ndjamena, Chad | 9 (10) |
| Beijing, China | 10 (7) |
| New York City, USA | 11 (16) |
| Shenzhen, China | 12 (14) |
| Bern, Switzerland | =13 (9) |
| Lagos, Nigeria | =13 (20) |
| Seoul, South Korea | 15 (8) |
| Victoria, Seychelles | 16 (17) |
| London, UK | 17 (12) |
| Guangzhou, China | 18 (15) |
| Tel Aviv, Israel | 19 (18) |
| Abuja, Nigeria | 20 (35) |
Mercer, the consulting firm which published the figures as part of its annual cost of living survey, said that most of the ups-and-downs were down to currency fluctuations. For instance, a strong dollar pushed US cities up the rankings, with New York climbing from 16th to 11th.
Aberdeen and Birmingham were the other two UK cities to fall in the top 100, coming in at 83 and 96 respectively.