Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Beirut are the most expensive Arabian cities, Moscow, Tokyo & London internationally

Mercer had released the outcomes of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2008 with a little bit confusing results in the Arab world. According to the survey, cost of living in many Arabian cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman, Kuwait and Riyadh dropped down, making these cities even cheaper than 2007, even though prices are going up month after month.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are known for the extremely expensive rent prices, which even went higher this year, Riyadh, Amman and Jeddah as well witnessed an increment in rent prices, and yet the report claims that cost of living went down. Amman, which topped the most expensive Arabian cities list that was created by the Economist, came fourth in Mercer’s report after Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Beirut, if you compare Dubai to Amman, you’ll find that Dubai is more expensive than Amman in rents and taxis only.

Arabian cities in Mercer’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2008:
52. Dubai
65. Abu Dhabi
80. Beirut
88. Amman
94. Kuwait City
112. Manama
119. Riyadh
126. Jeddah
(courtesy of the Arabian Business)

Arabian cities in the Economist’s Arabia’s Most Expensive Cities:
1. Amman
2. Dubai
3. Ad-Dar Al-Baydha
4. Abu Dhabi
5. Manama
6. Doha
7. Riyadh
8. Muscat
9. Kuwait
10. Jeddah
11. Khubar
12. Cairo
13. Algiers
14. Damascus
(for some reason Beirut is missing)

World’s most expensive according to Mercer’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2008:
1. Moscow
2. Tokyo
3. London
4. Oslo
5. Seoul
6. Hong Kong
7. Copenhagen
8. Geneva
9. Zurich
10. Milan
11. Osaka
12. Paris
13. Singapore
14. Tel Aviv
15. Sydney
16. Dublin
16. Rome
18. St. Petersburg
19. Vienna
20. Beijing
21. Helsinki
22. New York City
23. Istanbul
24. Shanghai
25. Amsterdam
25. Athens
25. São Paulo
28. Madrid
29. Prague
30. Lagos
31. Barcelona
31. Rio de Janeiro
31. Stockholm
34. Douala
35. Warsaw
36. Melbourne
37. Munich
38. Berlin
39. Brussels
40. Frankfurt
41. Dakar
42. Kiev
43. Luxembourg
44. Almaty
45. Bratislava
46. Düsseldorf
46. Riga
48. Mumbai
49. Zagreb
50. Hamburg

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