Lagos among 50 costliest cities

A recent survey by Mercer, a global outsourcing and consulting firm, has also ranked Lagos among the 50 most expensive cities of the world for expatriates. The survey, tagged World Cost of Living Survey 2012, covered 124 cities across five continents and placed Lagos at the 39th position, two steps up from the 41st position it occupied last year.

According to the report, published online on June 12, the survey was based on measures of the comparative cost of 200 items in each of the surveyed country. The items included transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

Housing cost, regarded as constituting the biggest expense for expatriates, also played an important role in determining the ranking of cities. The survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments to determine compensation allowances for their expatriates.

See full List below:

Rankings
March 2012	March 2011	City	Country
1	2	TOKYO	JAPAN
2	1	LUANDA	ANGOLA
3	6	OSAKA	JAPAN
4	4	MOSCOW	RUSSIA
5	5	GENEVA	SWITZERLAND
6	7	ZURICH	SWITZERLAND
6	8	SINGAPORE	SINGAPORE
8	3	N'DJAMENA	CHAD
9	9	HONG KONG	HONG KONG
10	11	NAGOYA	JAPAN
11	14	SYDNEY	AUSTRALIA
12	10	SÃO PAULO	BRAZIL
13	12	RIO DE JANEIRO	BRAZIL
14	16	BERN	SWITZERLAND
15	21	MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA
16	21	SHANGHAI	CHINA
17	20	BEIJING	CHINA
18	15	OSLO	NORWAY
19	30	PERTH	AUSTRALIA
20	12	LIBREVILLE	GABON
21	17	COPENHAGEN	DENMARK
22	19	SEOUL	SOUTH KOREA
23	34	CANBERRA	AUSTRALIA
24	31	BRISBANE	AUSTRALIA
25	18	LONDON	UNITED KINGDOM
26	44	KHARTOUM	SUDAN
27	46	ADELAIDE	AUSTRALIA
28	29	ST. PETERSBURG	RUSSIA
29	51	CARACAS	VENEZUELA
30	43	SHENZEN	CHINA
31	38	TEL AVIV	ISRAEL
31	38	GUANGZHOU	CHINA
33	32	NEW YORK CITY, NY	UNITED STATES
34	23	NIAMEY	NIGER
35	70	YANGON	MYANMAR
36	61	KINSHASA	DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO
37	27	PARIS	FRANCE
38	25	MILAN	ITALY
39	41	LAGOS	NIGERIA
39	63	BAMAKO	MALI
41	67	ABIDJAN	CÔTE D'IVOIRE
42	34	ROME	ITALY
43	55	BRAZZAVILLE	CONGO
44	39	DJIBOUTI	DJIBOUTI
45	33	BRASILIA	BRAZIL
46	39	STOCKHOLM	SWEDEN
47	37	NOUMÉA	NEW CALEDONIA
48	36	VIENNA	AUSTRIA
49	48	BAKU	AZERBAIJAN
50	25	VICTORIA	SEYCHELLES
50	44	DAKAR	SENEGAL