Fiji the most expensive place in Asia ex-Japan -ADB

MANILA, July 31 (Reuters) The Fiji islands are the most expensive place to live in the Asia Pacific region outside Japan because the archipelago is so reliant on imports, a study conducted by the Asian Development Bank showed today.

While the tropical archipelago beat Hong Kong in terms of cost, the Chinese territory's inhabitants were the region's top shoppers, spending 24 times the regional average on clothes and shoes, the Manila-based bank said.

''Clearly the people of Hong Kong buy premium products when it comes to clothing and footwear and this of course is quite consistent with Hong Kong being known as a shopping capital for luxury goods,'' Ifzal Ali, the ADB's chief economist said.

Using 2005 data, Fiji was the first among 23 countries in terms of cost of living, followed by Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taipei and Brunei.

The study did not include Japan.

The cheapest economies in the region were Laos, Vietnam, Iran, Cambodia, Nepal, Pakistan, India and Mongolia.

China, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines were ranked in the middle in terms of living costs.

Brunei, Singapore, Macao, Hong Kong and Taipei topped the list of richest economies in the Asia Pacific region in terms of total economic output per citizen.

According to the study, the per capita gross domestic product of these five economies range between HK8,000-270,000, seven to 13 times higher than the regional average of HK,545.

Ali said the major components for the 23 participating economies were expressed in Hong Kong dollars to enable comparisons.

REUTERS ARB VV1620