Dublin world's 14th most-expensive city, London second

Dublin has been ranked the world's 14th most-expensive city, with Tokyo first and London second.

Appreciation of the pound against the US dollar helped push London to the top of the league table of 144 international cities, according to research by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Glasgow and Birmingham were ranked at 41 and 51.

Some of the cheapest European cities were in countries which joined the European Union last month, including Bucharest in Romania and Limassol in Cyprus.

“We are likely to see cities in the new EU accession countries rise in the rankings as more investment is made in commercial development, and standards of living increase,” said Marie-Laurence Sepede, senior researcher at Mercer.

The cost of renting a luxury two bedroom unfurnished two bedroom apartment was £1,950 (€2,950) a month in London compared with £840 (€1,270) in Dublin, £1,311(€1,980) in Paris and £908 (€1,370) in Rome, said the report.