Moscow ousts Tokyo as world's costliest city-survey

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) Moscow has surged past Tokyo and London to become the world's costliest city with a cost of living almost 25 per cent higher than in New York, Mercer Human Resource Consulting said on Monday in its annual survey.

Designed as a reference guide for staff on international placements, the survey allocates New York 100 as its benchmark and ranks every other city against it.

On that basis, Moscow surged three places from 2005 to come in top of the league with 123.9, followed by Seoul, also up three places on 121.7, and Tokyo, last year's leader, on 119.1.

Hong Kong climbed five places to fourth on 116.3, with London down two to fifth place on 110.6, Osaka down four to sixth on 108.3 and Geneva down one to seventh on 103.

Copenhagen was unchanged at eighth on 101.1 and Oslo likewise unchanged at 10th equal on 100 -- the same score as New York which was down three places.

Paraguay's capital Asuncion remained in last place on the list of 144 cities on six continents with a score of 43.5.

Mercer, which describes itself as the world leader in human resources and related financial advice, said its survey covered more than 200 items in each city including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

''We have seen significant shifts in the cost-of-living rankings over the past few years, reflecting a changing global market,'' said Rebecca Powers, a senior consultant with Mercer.

''For many companies, it can now be more expensive to send employees to work in Russia or Korea than places like Japan or Switzerland which are often perceived to be more costly,'' she added.

She noted that many of this year's changes in ranking were due to exchange rate fluctuations.

Reuters SY DB0904