Tokyo most expensive city in the world in 2012 - According to the annual list of 131 cities in the world, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Tokyo is the most expensive city on the planet. This is the 14th time that the Japanese capital has occupied this place over the past 20 years. Only Zürich (seventh place), Paris (eighth place) and Oslo (fourth place) have at any one time managed to knock Tokyo off the top of this table. The second most expensive city is also in Japan, Osaka, followed by the Australian city of Sydney. The most expensive city in the world last year was Zürich, which this year experienced the biggest fall in this league table, together with Geneva (10th place), following the fall in value of the Swiss franc. Overall, European cities have fallen to lower positions in this table over the past few years, being overtaken by cities in Asia and Oceana. No US city is in the “Top 20” but New York, is in 27th place and has risen 19 places over the past year. Right at the bottom of the list are Mumbai and Karachi, the respective financial capitals in India and Pakistan, which are also the least expensive cities in the world. The study is based on an average basket of goods with their respective prices for 160 different products and services, for which New York is the city used as the point of reference. (IL/transl.fl)