The top 20 most expensive places to live in Europe in 2012

The most expensive place to live in 2012 is Zurich based on the overall cost of living excluding housing, education, healthcare and transport costs.

The latest international cost of living rankings are based on data collected during the past 3 months for 768 international locations, covering every country world-wide.

The cost of living data collected is representative of an expatriate lifestyle, while the components of COL are prices for fixed quantities of the same goods and services, inflation and exchange rates. Prices in each location are affected by availability (i.e. supply & demand) as well as local pricing regulations and taxes on goods and services (e.g.premiums on luxury brands). Local inflation is usually representative of local price increases which in turn impacts an expatriates purchasing power in the host country. The exchange rate impacts both the price of imports to the host country and the expatriate assignment salary calculation between the home and host country. The cost of living has a significant impact on the purchasing power of an expatriate’s salary package.

The overall cost of living excluding housing, education, healthcare and transport costs is often used to calculate the cost of living for expatriate employees.  During an expatriate assignment housing, education, healthcare and transport costs are often either paid by the employer or through an allowance.

Of the top 50 most expensive places to live based on the cost of living excluding housing, education, healthcare and transport, Europe has 19 locations, the Americas 16, Asia-Pacific 10, and Africa 5.

The top 20 Most expensive places to live in Europe - Overall Cost of Living & All Baskets:

1. Switzerland, Zurich
2. Switzerland, Geneva
3. Switzerland, All Areas
4. Norway, Oslo
5. Liechtenstein, Vaduz
6. Norway, All Areas
7. Liechtenstein, All Areas
8. United Kingdom, London
9. Denmark, Copenhagen
10. Denmark, All Areas
11. Russia, Moscow
12. Monaco, Monaco
13. France, Paris
14. Austria, Vienna
15. Jersey, Saint Helier
16. Jersey, All Areas
17. Italy, Rome
18. Finland, Helsinki
19. Germany, Frankfurt
20. Austria, All Areas