Singapore and São Paulo now in Top10 of world's most expensive cities. For the second year in a row, Luanda, in Angola, is the most expensive city in the world for employees posted abroad, according to the most recent cost of living survey carried out in 2011 by Mercer consultants. Tokyo (Japan) remains in second place and N'Djamena (Chad) is still in third place. Moscow is in fourth position, followed by Geneva in fifth and Osaka in sixth place. Zurich has gone up one place and is now in seventh position, while Singapore has climbed to eighth place and Hong Kong has slid down to ninth place. Overall, there have not been any enormous changes in the Top 10, except for São Paulo, which is now in 10th position, when in 2010 it was only in 21st place. Another Brazilian city which has risen remarkably too, due to the sharp appreciation in the value of the Real and inflation is Rio de Janeiro, which has moved from 29th place into 12th. Copenhagen was in 10th place in 2010 but this year has fallen to 17th place. On the other hand, Karachi in Pakistan (214th place) is the cheapest city in the world. Recent world events, such as natural disasters and political instability have had an impact on the rankings in several regions, in the wake of currency fluctuations, inflation in prices of products and services, as well as price volatility affecting accommodation. In Europe, where the cost of living has remained relatively stable, only three cities remain in the Top 10 of the world's most expensive cities to live (Moscow, Geneva and Zürich). Compared to last year, Oslo (15th) has fallen by four places in the ranking, whilst Berne (16th) has climbed 6 places and Copenhagen (17th) has gone down seven places. London (18th) is followed by Milan (25th) and Paris (27th), both of which have fallen by 10 places compared to last year. St Petersburg is in 29th place, followed by Rome (34th) and Vienna (36th). Stockholm has risen from 76th place to 39th this year. It is one of the cities in the region that has suffered from the most changes mainly due to a strengthening in its national currency compared to the US dollar. The Mercer survey focused on 214 cities in five continents and compares the price of more than 200 products and services in a city, such as accommodation, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. (I.L./transl.fl)