Dublin has dropped down the list of the world's most expensive cities to live in, but it remains in the top 15 most expensive cities in the European Union, a new survey says.

The Irish capital was 10th on the world list just six years ago, but thanks to the property crash and the banking crisis it fell to 42nd place last year and to 58th place this year, according to Mercer’s 2011 Cost of Living Survey.

Mercer's survey measures the comparative cost of items such as housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

Mercer said that recent headline grabbing world events including natural disasters and political upheavals, had altered the rankings for many regions through the cost of inflation for goods and services, and other factors like currency costs and volatility in accommodation prices.

Senior consultant at Mercer Noel O’Connor told the Irish Times : 'We have seen Dublin drop from 42 to 58 in the worldwide rankings. Dublin ranks in the top 15 most expensive cities in the EU with a ranking of 13 (down two places from 2010) out of 40 EU cities included in survey.

_________________

Read More:

Irish property market falls slow down

Dramatic house prices drop show Irish decline

Bargain hunters feast on bust property in Ireland
_________________

'This drop is a result of exchange rate fluctuations between the dollar and the euro and because the price of goods has increased on a greater scale in the base city, New York, than Dublin.'

O’Connor added that in Dublin prices for expatriate rental accommodation had remained stable in the last 12 months.

'Global mobility is an expensive undertaking for companies and the cost of housing – often the biggest expense for expats – plays an important part in determining an expatriates overall relocation package,' he said.

New York is used as the base city and all cities are compared against it.
Currency movements are measured against the US dollar, Mercer explained.