This is the No. 1 most expensive city in the world (it’s NOT in the U.S.)

In today’s global economy, a growing number of people are choosing to move across the world for work. But depending where you end up, your cost-of-living could be radically different.

Hong Kong was rated the most expensive city in the world for the second straight year, according to the annual Cost of Living Survey from human resource consulting firm Mercer MMC, +1.80% Overall, East Asia was the costliest region for expatriate workers, representing eight of the 20 most expensive cities.

Mercer’s survey examined the cost of living in 2,089 cities across the world, based on the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. New York City, which ranked No. 9, was used as the baseline for comparison. The survey also took into consideration currency movements against the U.S. dollar DXY, -0.14%

Besides New York, the only U.S. cities to crack the top 20 were San Francisco (16) and Los Angeles (18). However, most U.S. cities rose in the rankings compared wit last year, largely on the relative strengthening of the U.S. dollar BUXX, -0.11%

The survey found Zurich (No. 5) to be the most expensive city in Europe. However, the weakening of European currencies relative to the U.S. dollar prompted many cities in the continent to drop in the rankings.

Unlike in Europe, Middle Eastern cities became comparatively more expensive over the past year. “Many currencies in the Middle East are pegged to the U.S. dollar, which pushed cities up in the ranking, as well as steep increases for expatriate rental accommodations,” Yvonne Traber, global mobility product solutions leader at Mercer, said in the report.

And the cheapest cities globally for expat workers? Tunis, Tunisia, came in at No. 1, followed by Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Karachi, Pakistan.

2019	City	Country/Region	2018
1	Hong Kong	Hong Kong (SAR)	1
2	Tokyo	Japan	2
3	Singapore	Singapore	4
4	Seoul	South Korea	5
5	Zurich	Switzerland	3
6	Shanghai	China	7
7	Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	43
8	Beijing	China	9
9	New York City	United States	13
10	Shenzhen	China	12
11	N’Djamena	Chad	8
12	Bern	Switzerland	10
13	Geneva	Switzerland	11
14	Victoria	Seychelles	21
15	Tel Aviv	Israel	16
16	San Francisco	United States	28
17	Guangzhou	China	15
18	Los Angeles	United States	35
19	Osaka	Japan	23
20	Copenhagen	Denmark	14