BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), the capital of Brunei, is ranked among the most expensive cities in Southeast Asia to live in, according to Mercer's 25th annual Cost of Living Survey 2019 released recently.
BSB was placed 102nd out of 210 cities globally and the second most expensive city in ASEAN after Singapore (higher ranking indicates higher cost of living). Other relatively expensive cities in the region were Jakarta (105th), Phnom Penh (108th), Manila (109th) , Hanoi (112th) and Yangon (117th).
The survey finds that eight out of the top 10 world's most expensive cities for expatriates are Asian cities, resulting from high costs for expatriate consumer goods and a dynamic housing market.
The most expensive city in the world for the second consecutive year is Hong Kong, followed by Tokyo (2nd), Singapore (3rd) and Seoul (4th).
Other cities in the top 10 are Zurich (5th), Shanghai (6th), Ashgabat (7th), Beijing (8th), New York City (9th) and Shenzhen (10th).
