Moscow is the world's most expensive city Moscow is the world's most expensive city for the second year in a row, thanks to an appreciating ruble and rising housing costs, a new survey reports. The cost of living in the Russian capital is nearly 35 percent higher than in New York, which served as the base city for the survey released Monday. London, estimated at 26 percent more expensive than New York, climbed three spots to second place on a strengthening British pound and steep rental prices. South Korea's Seoul ranked third, followed closely by Tokyo at No. 4. The survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting ranked 143 cities around the world, measuring the comparative cost of more than 200 areas such as housing, transportation and food. The findings are designed to help multinational employers determine compensation for their expatriate workers. In Moscow, a luxury two-bedroom apartment will cost an expat $4,000 a month; a CD rings up at $24.83; one copy of an international daily newspaper is $6.30; and a fast-food hamburger meal totals $4.80. A strengthening euro boosted 30 European cities to top spots on the 2007 list - Copenhagen, Geneva, Zurich and Oslo, respectively, placed among the top 10. Eight Asian cities made the top 50, though Taipei, Taiwan, plunged 20 places to No. 48. New York and Los Angeles were the only two North American cities to rank among the highest 50, though both fell in the rankings due to a depreciating U.S. dollar, Mercer reported. The Big Apple dropped five places to No. 15, while Los Angeles fell to No. 42 from No. 29 in 2006. Ranking as the least expensive city for the fifth year in a row was Paraguay's capital of Asuncion, where the cost of living is half that of New York, Mercer estimated.

据一项最新调查，由于卢布的不断升值和住房成本的持续上涨，莫斯科连续第二年成为世界上生活成本最高的城市。 该项于周一公布的调查显示，莫斯科的生活成本比“基准城市”纽约高近35%。 伦敦的生活成本比纽约高约26%，由于英镑不断升值及房租过高，伦敦连攀三个榜位，升至第二。 韩国的首尔名列第三，东京紧跟其后，位居第四。 美世人力资源咨询公司的该项调查对全球143个城市的住房、交通和饮食等200多个领域的比较成本进行了测算，并据此对这些城市进行了排位。该调查的结果旨在帮助那些跨国公司的老板们为他们的驻外员工确定补贴金额。 在莫斯科，一套豪华两居室的月租金为4000美元、一张CD要24.83美元、一份国际性日报要6.3美元、一顿汉堡快餐需要花费4.8美元。 欧元的持续升值将欧洲30个城市送至高位，哥本哈根、日内瓦、苏黎世和奥斯陆都跻身前十名。 亚洲有八个城市跻身前五十，其中台北下滑20位，跌至第48名。 据美世咨询公司报告，纽约和洛杉矶是北美跻身前50名的仅有的两个城市，不过由于美元的贬值这两个城市今年的排名有所下滑。 纽约下滑五个榜位，降至第15位；洛杉矶从去年的29位下降至第42位。 巴拉圭首都亚松森连续第五年被评为生活成本最低的城市，据美世公司估算，这个城市的生活成本仅为纽约的一半。

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