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Dubai Most Expensive City in GCC

DUBAI - A new survey confirms what many foreign residents of Dubai have long suspected: The emirate is the priciest city in the Gulf for expatriates. In fact, Dubai has shot up through the ranks to become the 20th most expensive city in the world for expats, out of 143 cities surveyed by New York-based consulting firm Mercer.

In the company’s previous study, in March 2008, Dubai was a middling 52^nd. Mercer released its latest findings on Tuesday.

For Ismail Al Bahry, a 27-year-old financial advisor from Kenya, the news came as no surprise. “I would believe Dubai to be the 20^th most expensive city in the world. I would even believe it to be the 10^th,” he said.

Abu Dhabi too surged up the list, rising to 26^th place from 65^th in the global rankings.

Other GCC cities followed a similar trend, with Kuwait City rising to 77^th from 94^th, and Manama, Bahrain, to 82^nd from 112^th.

Worldwide, Tokyo bumped Moscow from its earlier spot as the world’s costliest city for expats. Osaka jumped to 2^nd place, while Moscow slipped to 3^rd.

The new Mercer study evaluated data from March of this year. It surveyed spending habits and compared the costs of over 200 items and services.

Mercer used New York as the base city for its cost of living index, with a score of 100 points. It compared all other cities with New York, and it measured currency movements against the US dollar. The UAE dirham is pegged to the dollar.

Bassam Gazal, who headed the survey in the Middle East, said, “In the case of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, a stronger US dollar meant an increase in rankings for these cities.”

Expats here expressed no surprise.