Society

Low inflation drops Tokyo out of world's top 10 most expensive cities and into tie with Osaka for 11

Mar 20 (Japan Times) - Singapore remains the world's most expensive city for the fifth consecutive year, with Paris, Zurich and Hong Kong following closely behind, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey published on Thursday.

Low inflation meant Tokyo - the most expensive city until 2013 - dropped to 11th, tied with Osaka, in the Economist Intelligence Unit's biannual study of 133 cities.

No other Japanese cities were ranked.

Another pricey perennial, New York, did not make the top 10, beaten out by Paris and Zurich (joint second), Hong Kong (fourth) and Oslo (fifth). Seoul and Geneva shared sixth place, while Copenhagen, Tel Aviv and Sydney rounded out the rankings.

Singapore has avoided the massive traffic jams common in other big Asian cities by controlling vehicle ownership through a quota system under which a buyer must pay for a certificate of entitlement - nearly 40,000 Singapore dollars ($30,500) - on top of the vehicle's actual price.

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