IRELAND’S CAPITAL HAS remained a more expensive place to live than some of the priciest places on the planet, according to a new survey. 

The latest Cost of Living report shows that Dublin dropped 10 places this year in the global rankings but remains on the top-100 list of the most expensive places to live in the world at number 87.

This places Dublin above other all cities in the UK and other notoriously expensive places like Melbourne (94th) and Vancouver (91st). 

Despite falling ten places in the global rankings, Dublin continues to be one of the most expensive locations in Europe, moving into thirteenth place in the European rankings. 

The cost of living survey, commissioned by ECA International, investigates the varying level of household expense in cities around the globe.

It does so by comparing a basket of like-for-like consumer goods and services in 475 worldwide locations. Rental accommodation levels are not factored into the survey.

ECA, which has been running the survey for the past 45 years, states that a strong euro is the main reason for the rise on the list of so many European cities.

According to the report, a weakened euro combined with slow growth, particularly in Germany which narrowly avoided recession, has seen almost all eurozone locations drop in rankings, with seven locations tumbling out of the top 100, including major European cities such as The Hague, Lyon, Rome, Berlin and Munich.

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Switzerland continues to have the highest cost of living in Europe with four locations in the top 10, making the country one of the most expensive locations in the world.

The report found that continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the fallout from the US-China trade war has seen UK cities dropping eight places on average, with Central London (140^th) posting its lowest ever position in the global rankings.

“While uncertainty may decrease after the election and push up the value of pound there could be years of complicated trade talks ahead so expect the UK to see more fluctuations in the ranking in years to come,” Steven Kilfedder, Production Manager at ECA International said. 

The continuing strength of the US dollar has seen all locations in the US increase by an average of 18 places, with New York (15th) and Honolulu (20th) in Hawaii both entering the global top 20. This continues a trend which has seen 28 US locations enter the top 100, compared to just five in 2014.

North America now accounts for almost a third of the top 100 most expensive locations in the world with 30 cities located in either the USA or Canada overtaking Asia which has 28.