Year after year, companies list down the most expensive cities in the world. It gets pretty repetitive seeing the ones over and over, but this year's list by human resources consulting firm Mercer, in particular, is full of surprises. Spoiler alert: Switzerland was bumped off the list for certain years, but the country makes a strong comeback this year with a bunch of cities on the list. Here are the top 10 most expensive places to live.
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1| Hong Kong
Hong Kong topped this year list again, retaining the rank from 2019's survey. According to Mercer, the city's cost of living is being driven up by its connection to the U.S. dollar. (The Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to the U.S. dollar since 1983.)
2| Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat ended up at the second place for the hyperinflation its currently experiencing, as well as high costs of importation.
3| Tokyo, Japan
Once the most expensive city in Asia, finding Japan on the list is hardly surprising.
4| Zurich, Switzerland
Zurich takes the title of the most costly European city, based on the categories of household, personal care, recreation, and entertainment.
5| Singapore
Singapore dropped two places this year, landing at fifth overall.
6| New York City
A city that greatly moved up was New York City. It's fitting too considering that the U.S. dollar is used for measuring comparisons and movements.
7| Shanghai, China
Shanghai went down from last year's list, but just by one spot to be the seventh most costly city in the world.
8| Bern, Switzerland
Bern jumped from 12th place last year to eight as the most expensive city to be the second in Europe. The city is the headquarters of the international postal, telegraph, railway, and copyright unions.
9| Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland's second-most populous city, is also its third most expensive city.
10| Beijing, China
Beijing figures at the 10th place. The city rounds up the group of the six Asia Pacific countries in the top 10.
