Paris, Hong Kong, and Singapore have all been declared as the world's most expensive cities to live, according to research and analytics firm Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
In the EIU's latest Worldwide Cost of Living report, all three metropolises finished in the top spot out of the 133 cities included in the study. Singapore had originally dominated the rankings for the past five years.
The international survey serves as a guide for organizations in calculating cost-of-living allowances and developing compensations for business travelers and expatriates.
World's Most Expensive Cities To Live
The EIU determined the rankings by comparing the prices of more than 150 products and services in 133 cities around the world. The company used New York as a benchmark to serve as a point of comparison for the cities. The Big Apple has an index set at 100.
Paris and Hong Kong joined Singapore in the number 1 spot this year. All three cities were 7 percent more expensive to live in compared to New York. They were followed by the Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva, which ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
In an interview with French news website The Local, one of the authors of the EIU report pointed to high real estate and retail prices as primary factors that led to Paris ranking first.
"Paris has always been expensive. It's partly driven by high real estate prices that feed through to retail prices," the researcher said. "It's just structurally expensive and the high wages also makes a difference."
However, the author said Parisians should not take it as bad news. The city's ranking was partly due to its high salaries and because it was a lot cheaper to visit other places abroad.
Meanwhile, Osaka, Japan, made it back to the top 10, finishing in the fifth spot, while fellow Asian city Seoul, South Korea, placed in seventh.
Copenhagen, Denmark, and New York both tied Seoul in the seventh spot, and Tel Aviv, Israel, and Los Angeles rounded out the first few spots on the list at 10th.
Sydney failed to break into the top spots after finishing 10th last year. Weaker local currencies have forced five Australian and two New Zealand cities included in the survey further down the list, according to the researchers.
The report also mentioned that cost of living in major Chinese cities have remained relatively stable over the past year, while Southeast Asian cities were climbing up the rankings.
The EIU said some Asian metropolises are among the most expensive in the world for general grocery shopping, leading to the region's strong showing in this year's survey.
World's Most Affordable Cities To Live
The EIU report also featured some of the most affordable cities to live in the world.
Some of the notable mentions are Istanbul and Moscow, which both suffered from volatile currencies that helped drive cost of living down. The Indian cities of New Delhi (123rd), Chennai (125th), and Bangalore (129th) also made it to the list.
Damascus in Syria and Caracas in Venezuela finished at the bottom of the rankings at 132nd and 133rd, respectively.
