© pt  Among the 50 cities with the highest cost of living in the world, Qingdao ranks 34th, up from 43rd the year before.

Among the 50 cities with the highest cost of living in the world, there are 8 major cities in mainland China, including Qingdao. This comes from a recent study published by consulting firm Mercer in New York. To calculate the 2021 rankings, Mercer has compared the average cost of housing and transportation as well as food and clothing.

According to the study, the cost of living has become higher in all Chinese cities compared to that of last year. Tianjin and Chengdu have made the biggest leaps. Both metropolises "move up" 12 places and currently rank 26th and 28th respectively. Qingdao has risen nine places from 43rd in 2020 to 34th in 2021.

Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat, has replaced Hong Kong as the world's most expensive metropolis, which turns out to be a big change. Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, which comes in third, moves up 42 places compared to that of 2020, followed by Tokyo (-1) and Zurich, Europe's most expensive city (-1). Shanghai ranks 6th (+1) and is the most expensive metropolis in mainland China. Beijing ranks 9th (+1), Shenzhen ranks 12th (+1), and Guangzhou ranks 17th, just behind Copenhagen (+3). Nanjing rise seven places to 27th.

Munich is the first German city (+20), ranking 52, while Frankfurt am Main is the second most expensive German city (+21), ranking 54. The third most expensive German city is Berlin at 60th (+22). Following Berlin is Shenyang in northeast China, which rise two places to 61st compared to that of 2020.