It is.
But you're also paid higher.






Expenses are relative to wage.
Just about everywhere.

and its all relative.

it probably doesnt take into account things like adapting and learning to live and eat like a local. i mean imagine a similar survey was taken with a japanese or indian or chinese perspective.

how expensive would it be for them to eat and live like they did back home if they didnt adapt?

i will say this though, japan compared to the uk, you get quality stuff for what you pay for in japan, the uk not so much, hence the rip off britain stuff.

Im not too sure how I feel about this survey. Trust me I do agree with the fact that Japan is expensive compared to places, especially Tokyo. I just wish I could see more info about the survey. Like what these 200 items were. To me food is a big one and they don't say what food. If you wanted, you could eat cheap in Japan, even Tokyo. But you could also eat ridiculously expensive. What troubled me most is the fact that he says he used New York as the base city and the basing his results off of New York. If you try to live the American lifestyle in Japan, your going to spend a fortune. If you want to go out have a big steak with potatoes your going to be broke in a week. Now I didn't see all of the list because my comp was going to slow. But I can tell you, I almost went to Tokyo and las vegas back to back, and Vegas cost way more than Tokyo. besides the cost of living, which im not sure of, las Vegas costs a fortune. This has nothing to do with gambling either, Im just talking about food, drink, entertainment, and transportation. I spent twice as much in Vegas, and Im not even sure if it was on that list. But with or with out this list, Tokyo isnt cheap.

Apparently this ranking fluctuates based on currency value, which really signals that is isn`t all that accurate when it comes to real life value.
The rank changes when calculated based on "cost of living" when balanced with income.

The ranking based on percentage of income required to secure a standard level of life in that city comes up with this for the top 10;

1. Luanda, Angola
2. Tokyo, Japan
3. Nagoya, Japan
4. Yokohama, Japan
5. Kobe, Japan
6. Copenhagen, Denmark
7. Oslo, Norway
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Zurich, Switzerland
10. Basel, Switzerland

Angola apparently relies very heavily on the extremely high priced black market for a fair chunk of necessities so comes in on top for actual income vs. cost of living.

I`m kind of impressed that Nagoya takes #2 in Japan.

3.25$ for a ride on a bus a subway? Strange, because a week a go I read in an article that it costs 170 yen for a subway trip in Tokyo.
That article is quite biased. They used an unstable currency as a measuring stick, rather than using some objective means of measurement.


PS: The Full List of Worlds Most Expensive Cities to Live

1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Osaka, Japan
3. Moscow, Russia
4. Geneva, Switzerland
5. Hong Kong

6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. New York City, U.S.
9. Beijing, China
10. Singapore
11. Milan, Italy
12. Shanghai, China
13. Paris, France
14. Oslo, Norway
15. Caracas, Venezuela
16. London, UK
17. Tel Aviv, Israel
18. Rom, Ittaly
19. Helsinki, Finland
20. Bubai, UAE
21. Vienna, ustriia
22. Shenzhen, China
23. Los Ageles, UU.S.
24. Guangzhou, China
25. Dublin, Ireland
26. Abu Dhabi, UAE
27. Douala, Caeroon
28. Athens, Greece
29. Amsterdrdam, Netherlands
30. Bratislava, Slovakia