Living it up in cut-price Brum

Jun 28 2006 By Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

BIRMINGHAM has plunged more than 20 places in the annual "cost of living" table of world cities, it was revealed today.

Brum is ranked 69th in the 2006 table drawn up by human resource consultants Mercer, a fall of 22 places on last year's placing of 47th.

Birmingham ranks well behind the only British Isles cities in the top 20, London (third) and Dublin (13th).

London has lost its status as Europe's most expensive city in which to live after being overtaken by Moscow.

The Russian capital was found to be the costliest city on the planet, 12 per cent dearer to live in than London and nearly 25 per cent more expensive than New York City.

Moscow rose to top the list of 144 cities across six continents following steep increases in property prices.

Second was Seoul and third Tokyo, which was 2005's costliest city.

Rebecca Powers, a senior consultant at Mercer, said: "We have seen significant shifts in the cost of living rankings over the past few years, reflecting a changing global market.

"For many companies, it can now be more expensive to send employees to work in Russia or Korea than places like Japan or Switzerland, which are often perceived to be more costly."

The league table was drawn up after costs of more than 200 items were compared in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

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