RIGA - Riga has been ranked as the most expensive city in the Baltics, though only the 81st most expensive metropolis among 144 surveyed by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Tallinn was pegged as the 96th city in terms of living expense, while Vilnius was not even ranked.
Moscow was found to be the most expensive city in the world 's up from fourth place last year due to a property boom 's while Seoul came in second and Tokyo third.
The survey, considered to be the most authoritative in its field, compares the cost of some 200 items, including food, housing and transportation. Many multinational corporations use the survey by the Switzerland-based group as a gauge for compensating employees working abroad.
Housing prices in the Russian capital soared some 50 percent last year thanks to a surge in demand from expatriates.
Hong Kong was the fourth most expensive city, while other pricey European cities include London (5), Geneva (7) and Copenhagen (8). New York, which came in at the number 10 spot, was North America's most expensive metropolis.
