INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesParis has come top of a ranking of the world's most expensive cities, alongside Hong Kong and Singapore.It's the
first time three cities have shared the top spot in the 30-year history of the annual Economist Intelligence Unit survey, which compares
prices in 133 cities globally.The French capital - which was ranked second most expensive last year - is the only eurozone city in the top
The survey compares the cost of common items, such as bread, in 133 cities.It then tracks whether prices have gone up or down by comparing
them to the cost of living in New York, which is used as a benchmark.Haircut comparisonsReport author Roxana Slavcheva said Paris had been
among the top ten most expensive cities since 2003 and was "extremely expensive" to live in
"Only alcohol, transport and tobacco offer value for money compared with other European cities," she said
The average cost of a women's haircut, for example, costs $119.04 in Paris, compared to $73.97 in Zurich and $53.46 in Japanese city
Osaka."European cities tend to have the highest costs in the household, personal care, recreation and entertainment categories-with Paris
being a good representative in these categories—perhaps reflecting a greater premium on discretionary spending," Ms Slavcheva said
The ten most expensive cities in the world1
Los Angeles (US)Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Caracas was ranked the least expensive city
Inflation and volatile currency fluctuations helped drive changes in this year's ranking, with places like Argentina, Brazil, Turkey and
Venezuela all seeing a sharp fall in their cost of living ranking
Caracas in Venezuela, where inflation neared 1,000,000% last year forcing the government to launch a new currency, was ranked the least
expensive city in this year's survey
The price of a cup of coffee in the capital Caracas doubled to 400 bolivars ($0.62; £0.50) in the space of just a week last December,
according to Bloomberg.Damascus in Syria was ranked the world's second cheapest city
The Economist Intelligence Unit said a "growing number of locations" were becoming cheaper due to the impact of political or economic
The ten cheapest cities in the world1
Buenos Aires (Argentina)7
