Most pricey cities: Delhi,M8217;bai in middle

Indian cities on the other hand occupied the middle slots,with New Delhi 85th spot is Indias most expensive city followed by Mumbai 89th spot and Bangalore 190th spot.

Mumbai prices were relatively stable vis a vis other Indian cities,while in New Delhi the rise in cost of water as well as frequent power cuts necessitating the use of generators made it more expensive. The areas where expats reside have seen frequent outages on a continuing basis between June 2009 and accelerated in November 2009. Mercer blames it on the preparations for the Commonwealth Games.

On the realty front,according to Mercer,8221;The residential rental markets in India have not recovered yet and demand is still quite low in Mumbai,New Delhi and Bangalore. Property rental prices have remained pretty stable since the last survey. The rising number of expatriates coming back to India should have a positive impact on the real estate market and,as a consequence,a slight increase in rental rates is expected during the coming months.

Overall,for the first time,three African cities 8212; Luanda,Ndjamena and Libreville in Gabon 7 8212; were among the 10 most expensive cities.

Three Asian cities 8212; Tokyo,Osaka 6 and Hong Kong tied at 8 8212; were in the top 10,along with the European centers Moscow 4,Geneva 5,Zurich tied at 8 and Copenhagen 10.

Our cities are selected based on requests from our multinational clients,Mercer senior researcher Nathalie Constantin-Metral said in a statement with the survey.

We8217;ve seen demand increase for information on African cities from across the business spectrum 8212; mining,financial services,airlines,manufacturers,utilities and energy companies.

Seven Chinese cities appeared in the 2010 rankings,highlighting the commercial importance to multinationals of locations other than just Beijing,Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The other most expensive cities in Europe were Oslo 11,Milan 15,London and Paris both 17. The least expensive city in Europe was Tirana 200 in Albania.

Tel Aviv 19 was the most expensive city in the Middle East,followed by Abu Dhabi 50 and Dubai 55. Tripoli 186 in Libya was the least expensive Middle Eastern location.

Accommodation costs have continued to decrease in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,driving down the cost of living for expats,Constantin-Metral said.

Brazil8217;s commercial capital Sao Paulo 21 was the most expensive city in all of the Americas,a result of the strengthening of the real currency against the dollar.

In the United States,New York 27 was the most expensive city,followed by Los Angeles 55. Washington,D.C.,ranked 111 and the least expensive U.S. city was Winston Salem 197.

Vancouver 75 was the most expensive Canadian city,followed by Toronto 76 and Montreal 98. The capital Ottawa 136 was the least expensive.

The weakening of the U.S. dollar against a number of other currencies,combined with a decrease in the cost of rental accommodation,has pulled U.S. cities down the rankings,Constantin-Metral said.

In South America,Brazil8217;s Rio de Janeiro 29 was the second most expensive city,followed by Havana 45,Bogota 66 and the Brazilian capital Brasilia 70.

Buenos Aires ranked 161 and Nicaragua8217;s Managua 212 was the least expensive city in South America.