Mercer's 24th annual Cost of Living Survey reveals that Hong Kong has passed Luanda to take the top spot, followed by Tokyo, Zurich, Singapore and Seoul.
Zurich remains the most costly European city, followed by Bern (10) and Geneva (11). Overall, Western European cities have all risen in the rankings, particularly cities in Germany, with Frankfurt (68) and Berlin (71) jumping 49 spots in comparison with last year's rankings, while Munich (57) climbed 41 places.
London jumped ten spots to rank 19, Paris is 34th, up 28 places from last year, Rome is 46th, up 34 spots, and Vienna is 39th, up 39 spots.
Shanghai (7) and Beijing (9) and the most expensive Chinese cities.
Tel Aviv (16) continues to be the most expensive city in the Middle East for expatriates, followed by Dubai (26), Abu Dhabi (40), and Riyadh (45).
New York dropped four places to rank 13 as the highest-ranked city in the US. San Francisco (28) and Los Angeles (35) dropped seven and 12 places, respectively, from last year, while Chicago (51) dropped 20 places.
In Eastern and Central Europe, more expensive than Zagreb is Ljubljana (132), while Budapest (151), Tirana (172), Sofia (175), Bucharest (176), Belgrade (181) and Skopje (197) are less expensive for expatriates.
The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates are Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent (209), Tunis (208), and Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek (207).
Mercers analysed the costs of 200 items such as rental accommodation, transport, clothing, food and entertainment, comparing, for example, the prices of a cinema ticket, a pair of jeans, a litre of water, a cup of coffee, a litre of petrol, and a litre of milk.