Asian Cities Getting Pricier

The world’s five most expensive cities for foreigners are in Asia, knocking the traditionally pricey Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva down, but not off, the top-10 list.

Tokyo and Osaka kept their number one and two places in a survey released Wednesday, but Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Hong moved up to form the top five most costly cities for Western expatriates.

The only European cities to make the top 10 were Moscow, number six, and Geneva and Zurich, in eighth and ninth places.

Beijing moved up from number eight, Shanghai from number 14 and Hong Kong from number 11. Seoul, South Korea, and Singapore also moved up to the top 10. Guangzhou and Zhenzhen, two bustling Chinese cities near Hong Kong, moved up to numbers 11 and 12.

For the first time, the survey included housing in determining a city’s costliness. This vaulted Beijing into a higher spot because rentals with Western-style amenities are the world’s most expensive, followed by rents in Tokyo and Hong Kong.