Moscow and New York enjoy similar cost of living, study says

Moscow would not be taking the leading positions, if specialists calculated the real cost of life of a Muscovite

Moscow and New York shared the 12-13th positions on the list of 127 most expensive cities in the worldMoscow and New York shared the 12-13th positions on the list of 127 most expensive cities in the world. According to the results of the annual research work conducted by The Economist, UK, the life in Moscow became cheaper: Russia's capital lost three positions in comparison with 2004.

British analysts believe that Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world. They calculated that the cost of living in the capital of Japan is 42 percent more expensive than in Moscow or in New York and twice as expensive as in the capital of the Philippines, Manila. The top five also includes Oslo, Paris, London and Geneva.

The international consulting group Human Resource Consulting (HRC) published a similar chart of most expensive cities in the world before. Moscow, however, was ranked as a much more expensive city in comparison with The Economist's analysis: HRC put Moscow on the 2nd place on the list.

The HRC draws up its ratings for large corporations, which need to adjust salaries for their employees working abroad. The list of The Economist most likely mirrors the real cost of life in the cities of the world from the point of view of their residents. The Britons take account of prices on goods and services, which they use on a daily basis: transportation, public utilities, foodstuffs, cigarettes, alcohol, etc.

Vyacheslav Bobkov, the chairman of the Living Standard Center, said that the HRC rating could not be considered as objective, because it was based on a standard set of goods and services oriented on foreigners. "Moscow would not be taking the leading positions, if specialists calculated the real cost of life of a Muscovite," the specialist said.

The rating from The Economist does not take account of the rent price, which is very high in Moscow, or the cost of education, which is cheaper in Moscow than in Europe or the USA. The chart of the magazine was based on the dollar-euro correlation. They started making calculations in the spring of the current year, against the background of the cheap dollar and the expensive euro. That is why European capitals were placed on higher positions in comparison with the USA's New York, for instance.

The chart of most expensive cities of the world, according to The Economist:

1. Tokyo (Japan).
2. Oslo (Norway).
3. Paris (France).
4. London (UK).
5. Geneva (Switzerland).
6. Frankfurt (Germany).
7. Stockholm (Sweden).
8. Seoul (South Korea).
9. Sidney (Australia).
10. Hong Kong (China).
11. Singapore (Singapore).
12-13. Moscow (Russia), New York (USA).

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Author`s name Marina Lebedeva
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