ZURICH has leapfrogged ahead of Tokyo in the league table of the world’s most expensive cities after the Swiss franc’s sharp rise and its allure as a safe-haven currency for investors sent the cost of living soaring. 
 
 The Swiss city, which is now almost 50 per cent more expensive than London, has jumped from fifth place, while Geneva rose six places into joint third alongside Japanese city Osaka, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit. 
 
 The survey of 130 cities worldwide showed that despite Eurozone troubles, German and French cities have stayed relatively expensive with Paris and Frankfurt holding firm in the league table in sixth and tenth place. 
 
 Even though inflation levels passed five per cent last year, a weaker pound meant London actually fell slightly in the ranking from 15th to 17th place. 
 
 The Norwegian capital, Oslo, which was ranked the world’s most expensive city only a few years ago, dropped two places to fifth place. 
 
 Strong currency shifts have also propelled five Australian cities into the top 20, led by Sydney and Melbourne in seventh and eighth places. 
 
 “Exchange rates have been the greatest influence for the Australian cost of living, with the Australian dollar seeing its value to the US dollar double in a decade,” survey editor Jon Copestake said in the statement. 
 
 Meanwhile Asian cities moved up the ranking, with Singapore gaining one place to ninth spot and Seoul climbing nine places to 27th, highlighting a shift away from the traditionally more expensive Western Europe hubs. 
 
 Cities from the Asia Pacific region have continued to boom and now make up half of the top ten, but Western Europe still accounts for 24 of the most expensive cities in the top 50, with 14 hailing from Asia. 
 
 Asia was also home to some of the cheapest cities. Three of the four cheapest were in the Indian subcontinent. These included New Delhi and Mumbai in India, and Karachi in Pakistan, which was the cheapest of cities surveyed. 
 
 The bi-annual survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services such as food, transport, housing, utilities and private schools. 
 
 For example, the price of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in London in ten years, with the cost of a bottle of wine rising by 50 per cent. Taxes have also played a part, with petrol pump prices up by over 75 per cent and cigarette prices by almost 60 per cent. 
 
 “Over time we have seen the price of commodity driven groceries like bread and petrol rise substantially. However, less essential items have actually been falling in price recently, after rising during better economic times,” Copestake said. 
 
 Canada’s Vancouver has overtaken all US cities to become the most expensive in North America, ranked 37th. 
 
 Los Angeles was the most expensive US city -- equal 42nd with Shanghai -- while New York was 47th. ||||| Image Credit: Getty Images 
 
 Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world. The booming Asian city was ranked number one on this year's Mercer Cost of Living Survey, up from the number two slot last year and pushing Luanda, Angola, out of the top spot. 
 
 Karachi, Pakistan, is the least expensive of the 214 countries included on the list. 
 
 At number 33, New York City is the only U.S. city that ranked among the 50 on the list. The next ranking city was Los Angeles at 68 th and San Francisco at 90 th. Other major U.S. cities on the list include Washington, DC at 107 and Miami at 110. 
 
 Portland, Oregon (178) and Winston-Salem, North Carolina (195) were the least expensive U.S. cities included in the survey. 
 
 Mercer, a private company, ranks 214 countries around the world using 200 items to determine the rankings including cost of transportation, food, clothing, housing, household goods and entertainment. The company uses New York City as the base city and ranks the other 213 cities against it. 
 
 Mercer uses the rankings to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation for employees in different countries. 
 
 With the economic troubles plaguing areas across the globe, the list looks quite different than it did last year. 
 
 "When compared to New York, our benchmark city, most European cities have witnessed a decline in cost of living," said Nathalie Constantin-Metral, the principal at Mercer who is in charge of compiling the list each year. 
 
 "In North America, most cities have gone up in the ranking as the U.S. dollar has strengthened against a large proportion of the world's other currencies. In Asia, more than six in ten cities moved up in the rankings, including all surveyed cities in Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand. Cities in Australia and New Zealand witnessed some of the biggest jumps, as their currencies strengthened significantly against the U.S. dollar." 
 
 Moscow remains the most expensive European city, ranking at number four on the list. 
 
 London is the most expensive city in the UK at number 25 on the list, down seven slots from last year. 
 
 Paris is down 10 slots to number 37 while Dublin has plummeted 14 places down to number 72. 
 
 Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the Middle East, at number 31 on the list, while Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is again the least expensive city in the region, at 186. 
 
 Africa boasts some of the most expensive cities for expatriates, including Luanda, Angola, the number two ranking - but there's a catch. 
 
 "It might be surprising to see 20 African countries in the top third of the ranking," Constantin-Metral said. "The main driver behind this is the difficulty finding good, secure accommodation for expatriates. So the limited supply of acceptable accommodation is very expensive. The cost of imported international goods is also high, contributing to many regional cities moving up the ranking." 
 
 Asian cities dominated the list. Besides Tokyo claiming the number one slot, other notable cities include Osaka (3), Singapore (6), Hong Kong (9), Nagoya (10), Shanghai (16) and Beijing (17). 
 
 To see the full list, click here.
– Tokyo, rated the world's most expensive city last year by the Economist Intelligence Unit, has dropped out of the top five thanks to the soaring cost of living in other cities, including the new No. 1, Singapore. The city-state was sent to the top of the list by its strong currency and the sky-high cost of running a car, reports the BBC, which notes that Singapore is also the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes. Paris, Oslo, Zurich, and Sydney also made the top five out of 131 cities ranked, with Tokyo falling to sixth place. Researchers say Singapore's rise to the top from 18th most expensive a decade ago has been "steady rather than spectacular," the Straits Times reports. The cheapest cities included major Indian cities like Mumbai and New Delhi, as well as Damascus, Syria, where civil war has apparently caused prices to plunge.