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Overpriced Overseas No. 30 Most Expensive City: Gothenburg, Sweden No. 29 Most Expensive City: Tel Aviv No. 28 Most Expensive City: Adelaide, Australia No. 27 Most Expensive City: Sao Paulo No. 26 Most Expensive City: Perth, Australia No. 25 Most Expensive City: Melbourne No. 24 Most Expensive City: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo No. 23 Most Expensive City: Rio de Janeiro No. 22 Most Expensive City: Seoul No. 21 Most Expensive City: Brisbane, Australia No. 20 Most Expensive City: Paris No. 19 Most Expensive City: Libreville, Gabon No. 18 Most Expensive City: Canberra, Australia No. 17 Most Expensive City: Stockholm No. 16 Most Expensive City: Sydney No. 15 Most Expensive City: Caracas No. 14 Most Expensive City: Moscow No. 13 Most Expensive City: Helsinki No. 12 Most Expensive City: Copenhagen No. 11 Most Expensive City: Basel, Switzerland No. 10 Most Expensive City: Bern, Switzerland No. 9 Most Expensive City: Kobe, Japan No. 8 Most Expensive City: Geneva No. 7 Most Expensive City: Luanda, Angola No. 6 Most Expensive City: Zurich No. 5 Most Expensive City: Yokohama, Japan No. 4 Most Expensive City: Stavanger, Norway No. 3 Most Expensive City: Nagoya, Japan No. 2 Most Expensive City: Oslo No. 1 Most Expensive City: Tokyo

Overpriced Overseas

By Venessa Wong

These days most Americans are angry about the fact that everything from fuel to food to football tickets costs more. In fact, consumer prices increased 2.1 percent year-over-year in the first quarter. In April they were up 3.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet on a global basis the U.S. has become a bargain, compared to some other countries, as the U.S. dollar weakens and costs balloon in other places, according to results from a new report by ECA International, a global human resources company. The semiannual survey, which compares the price of food and basic goods and services—but not housing, utilities, or school fees—for expatriates in more than 400 cities around the world, ranked Australian cities higher for cost of living this year, mainly the result of currency changes. The Australian dollar has appreciated about 30 percent against the U.S. dollar since last June, and the Swiss franc has jumped about 37 percent. Of U.S. cities, Manhattan, which ranked No. 28 on last year's list, fell to No. 44. Honolulu dropped to No. 62, from No. 40.