Auckland expensive? Then move to Dhaka

LONDON - Auckland is more expensive than the capital of downtrodden Bangladesh, but cheaper than Nairobi in Kenya, a worldwide cost-of-living survey says.

Auckland was the 107th most-expensive of 131 cities listed in an Economist Intelligence Union report released this week.

Six months ago the home of yachting's America's Cup was 111th, tied with Bangkok and Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka and Prague were slightly cheaper than Auckland.

Just above Auckland, Wellington was rated New Zealand's most expensive city - 105th equal with Nairobi, the same place it was in January.

One place above the New Zealand capital were Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The survey compares prices and products in an effort to provide companies with an unbiased and independent guide from which allowances can be calculated for executives and families being sent overseas.

Both NZ cities had stabilised on the world list, after the falling dollar sent them into free-fall last year.

In contrast, the weakening Australian dollar had dropped Sydney 12 places to 72nd since January.

"This means that while as little as a year ago it was on a par with cities such as Brussels or Milan, nowadays it is no more expensive than Panama City or Montevideo," the report said.

Melbourne fell from 73rd to 81st and Perth 17 places to 94th equal.

Osaka now shares top billing with Tokyo as the world's most expensive city.

- NZPA

Rankings (last July in brackets): 1 Tokyo (1) and Osaka (2)

3 Hong Kong (3)

4 Libreville (7)

5 Oslo (5)

6 London (6)

7 New York (11) and Zurich (9)

9 Singapore (15), Taipei (8) and Tel Aviv (12)

12 Beijing (15) and Geneva (17)

14 Chicago (18) and Paris (12)

- NZPA