Toronto still Canada's most expensive city

Canadian cities fall down list as loonie depreciates against Euro

Toronto is still the most expensive city in Canada, but it's less expensive than it used to be, according to a new survey.

Mercer's annual Cost of Living Survey, which ranks the cost of living for expatriates in 143 cities, compares 200 items including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

Toronto dropped 35 places to position 82 in 2007. Calgary and Vancouver also fell in the rankings from 71 to 92 and 56 to 89 respectively. Ottawa remains the cheapest Canadian city at position 109.

These scores reflect a low rate of inflation and stable housing prices. Also, while the Canadian dollar has made gains on the United States greenback, it has depreciated nearly 13 per cent against the Euro since last year, making Canada a better deal for European expatriates.

The survey found Moscow is once again the most expensive city and London climbed three spots to be ranked the second most expensive city this year. Seoul dropped from second to third place. Asuncion in Paraguay is the cheapest city for the fifth year in a row.

Most European cities, on the power of the Euro and other local currencies, have climbed significantly up the rankings. For example, Stockholm moved from 36th last year to 23rd this year and Amsterdam climbed from 41st to 25th. Cities in Spain, Greece, Germany and the United Kingdom have all moved up the list.

New York, with a score of 100, is the study's baseline city. The Big Apple, at position 15, is still North America's most expensive city.

However, it did experience a five-spot drop and all other American cities have also fallen in the rankings. The depreciation of the US dollar against the Euro and other major currencies accounts for most of the change, according to Mercer.

Chinese cities have also fallen in the ranks this year. Beijing came in at number 20 (down from 14) and Shanghai at number 26 (down from 20). The depreciation of the Chinese Yuan compared to the Euro, a low inflation rate and stable property rental prices contributed to the drop, according to Mercer.

How the cities compare

RankingCityCountryCost of living 2007
1MOSCOW Russia134.4
2LONDON United Kingdom126.3
3SEOUL South Korea122.4
4TOKYOJapan122.1
5HONG KONG Hong Kong119.4
6COPENHAGENDenmark110.2
7GENEVA Switzerland109.8
8OSAKAJapan108.4
9ZURICHSwitzerland107.6
10OSLO Norway105.8
11MILAN Italy104.4
12ST. PETERSBURG Russia 103
13PARIS France101.4
14SINGAPORE Singapore100.4
15NEW YORK CITY United States100
16DUBLINIreland99.6
17TEL AVIV Israel97.7
18ROME Italy97.6
19VIENNAAustria96.9
20BEIJING China 95.9
21SYDNEY Australia94.9
22HELSINKIFinland93.3
23STOCKHOLMSweden93.1
24DOUALA Cameroon92.9
25AMSTERDAMNetherlands92.2
26MADRIDSpain 92.1
26SHANGHAI China 92.1
28KIEV Ukraine91.4
29ATHENS Greece90.6
30ALMATY Kazakhstan89.6
31BARCELONA Spain89.2
31BRATISLAVA Slovak Republic89.2
33DAKAR Senegal89
34DUBAI United Arab Emirates88.8
35ABIDJAN Côte d\\\'Ivoire88.3
36GLASGOW United Kingdom88.1
37LAGOS Nigeria88
38ISTANBUL Turkey87.7
39MUNICH Germany87.6
40FRANKFURT Germany87.4
41BIRMINGHAM United Kingdom87.2
42LOS ANGELES United States 87.1
43LUXEMBOURG Luxembourg87
44BRUSSELS Belgium86.5
45ABU DHABI United Arab Emirates85.9
45BERLIN Germany85.9
45DUSSELDORFGermany85.9
48TAIPEI Taiwan85.8
49PRAGUE Czech Republic85.6
50ALGIERSAlgeria85.1
51MIAMI United States85
52MUMBAIIndia84.9
53SHENZHEN China 84.7
54SAN FRANCISCO United States84.6
55JAKARTAIndonesia84.5
56HANOI Vietnam84.3
57HAMBURGGermany84.2
58CHICAGO United States83.7
59ZAGREB Croatia83.5
60HO CHI MINH CITY Vietnam 83.1
60BUDAPEST Hungary 83.1
62SAO PAULO Brazil 82.8
63BEIRUT Lebanon 82.6
64MELBOURNE Australia 82.5
64RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil 82.5
64HONOLULU United States 82.5
67WARSAW Poland 82.4
68NEW DELHI India 82.3
68GUANGZHOU China 82.3
70WHITE PLAINS United States82.1
71LYONFrance 81.9
72RIGA Latvia81.5
73LISBONPortugal80.8
74LIMASSOL Cyprus80.6
75SAN JUANPuerto Rico80.3
76ACCRAGhana79.9
77AMMAN Jordan79.8
78BUCHAREST Romania 79.6
79BOSTON United States79.2
80CASABLANCA Morocco78.9
80KUWAIT CITY Kuwait 78.9
82TORONTO Canada78.8
83HOUSTON United States78.6
84PERTH Australia 77.8
85WASHINGTON United States77.0
86BRISBANEAustralia76.9
87MORRISTOWN United States76.6
87ATLANTA United States76.6
89VANCOUVER Canada76.5
90TALLINNEstonia76.4
91MANAMA Bahrain76.2
92CALGARY Canada75.5
93LJUBLJANASlovenia75.3
93CAIROEgypt 75.3
95BANGKOK Thailand74.9
96ADELAIDE Australia74.7
97VILNIUSLithuania74.6
98MONTREAL Canada74.5
99AUCKLANDNew Zealand73.9
100SEATTLE United States73.7
101LUSAKA Zambia73.5
102NAIROBI Kenya73.3
102SANTIAGO Chile73.3
104MEXICO CITY Mexico 72.9
104LEIPZIG Germany 72.9
106KUALA LUMPURMalaysia72.8
107GUATEMALA CITY Guatemala72.6
108SOFIA Bulgaria72.5
109OTTAWA Canada72.3
110RIYADH Saudi Arabia72.2
111WELLINGTON New Zealand71.8
112BOGOTA Colombia 71.7
113JEDDAH Saudi Arabia71.4
114BANDAR SERI BEGAWANBrunei71
115ST. LOUIS United States70.8
115DENVER United States70.8
117LIMA Peru70.0
118CLEVELANDUnited States68.6
118TEHRAN Iran68.6
118DETROIT United States68.6
121KINGSTON Jamaica68.5
122MONTERREY Mexico68.1
123PORTLAND United States67.8
124PANAMA CITY Panama 67.4
125DACCA (DHAKA) Bangladesh66.8
126WINSTON SALEM, NC United States 66.7
127BLANTYRE Malawi66.4
128PITTSBURGH United States 66.3
129CARACAS Venezuela65.4
130COLOMBO Sri Lanka64.7
130TIANJIN China 64.7
132SANTO DOMINGODominican Republic64.2
133CHENNAI (MADRAS)India63.7
134BANGALOREIndia63.6
135TUNIS Tunisia63.4
136JOHANNESBURG South Africa61.3
137MANILA Philippines61.2
138SAN JOSE Costa Rica60.5
139BUENOS AIRESArgentina60.3
140MONTEVIDEO Uruguay58.4
141QUITO Ecuador56.3
142KARACHI Pakistan56.1
143ASUNCION Paraguay50.0

To read the full story, login below.

Not a subscriber?

Start your subscription today!