Bucharest is the 152nd most expensive out of 214 cities in the world for expats, down 33 places compared to last year, according to a recent study by Mercer. Bucharest has thus become even cheaper for expats. The reason was mostly the fact that prices increased more in New York than in Bucharest over the period March 2010 to March 2011. Consequently, Bucharest went down in the ranking, Nathalie Constantin Métral of Mercer told Romania-Insider.com. “In addition to this, the RON has slightly depreciated against the US dollar, which is an other reason why Bucharest moves down the list,” she went on.

The reference city for the Mercer Cost of Living ranking is New York and all cities are compared against New York, and the currency fluctuations are measured against the US dollar, she explained.

Luanda in Angola is the world's most expensive city for expatriates; Karachi is the cheapest. Second most expensive is Tokyo in Japan, then comes N'Djamena in Chad, followed by Moscow in Russia and Geneva, Switzerland.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)