Six Australian major cities are among the top 30 most expensive cities for expatriates in the world because of a stronger Australian dollar, according to a survey released on Tuesday by Mercer, one of the world''s largest investment consulting firms.
The survey showed that the six cities had all experienced further jumps up the global list since 2011, with Sydney and Melbourne ranked 11th and 15th places respectively, whereas Perth and Canberra both jumped 11 places to number 19 and 23.
Brisbane rose by seven places to take 24th position while Adelaide moved up 19 places to 27th.
Australia now has three surveyed cities in the top 20 and all six surveyed cities in the top 30, Mercer said.
Sydney has become the Australian most expensive city for expatriates.
"Demand for rental properties has also increased significantly in all the Australian cities we rank," Mercer principal Nathalie Constantin-Metral said in a statement.
"Coupled with very limited availability, the result has been very tight markets and increased prices."
The survey, which took place in March, compared the cost of more than 200 items including transport, food and housing across 214 cities globally, using New York as its basis.
It found Tokyo was the world''s most expensive city for expatriates, pushing Luanda, the capital of Angola, down to second position, while China''s Hong Kong was in the ninth position.
Shanghai climbed five places to 16th and Beijing moved up three places to 17th, overtaking Seoul.
Shenzhen rose by 13 places to 30th while Guangzhou was up seven places to 31st.
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