BEIJING and Shanghai are now Asia’s seventh and eighth most expensive places to live, overtaking Hong Kong, according to results of a survey released earlier last week.

    Singapore also overtook Hong Kong for the first time in at least 10 years, according to the Cost of Living Survey by ECA International, an HR consultancy company.

    Beijing and Shanghai are more expensive now due to “significant price inflation” and a strong yuan. They are now the world’s 35th and 41st most expensive cities, respectively.

    Tokyo remains the world’s most expensive city, while Hong Kong dropped 26 places to 58th position in the global ranking due to the weakness of its currency, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar at a fixed rate. Hong Kong is now the ninth most expensive city in Asia.

    Singapore rose by two places to the sixth in Asia, and advanced from 42nd place globally a year ago to 31st spot now, on a strong Singapore dollar and relatively high inflation. It is now less expensive in Asia than only four Japanese cities and Seoul.

    “When we look at the overall cost of ECA’s basket of goods and services in Singapore a year ago these items were 1.7 percent less expensive in Singapore than when purchased in Hong Kong,” said Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA International. “Now those same items are 8.5 percent more expensive in Singapore than Hong Kong.”(SD-Agencies)