Beirut is among the 50 most expensive cities in the world, jumping from 80th place last year to 41st in 2009, according to a global survey released by consultants Mercer. Beirut scores 81.6 points as opposed to 80.8, according to Mercer's annual Cost of Living survey of 143 cities.

The survey uses New York as the base city with an index of 100 points when comparing the cost of 200 items, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. Tokyo has replaced Moscow as the world's most expensive city for expatriates, and Beijing has moved into the top 10, the study said.

Asian and European cities again dominated the top ranks of the world's costliest cities for foreigners, but currency swings including a stronger dollar have reshuffled the global rankings, the firm said. Cities in the United States, China and the Middle East surged from last year. New York jumped from 22nd to eight place, Beijing is now ninth, up from 20th, while Dubai has climbed 32 places to number 20.

London dropped 13 places from last year to be the 16th most expensive city in the world, while Paris slipped one spot to 13th. "As a direct impact of the economic downturn over the last year we have observed significant fluctuations in most of the world's currencies, which have had a profound impact on this year's ranking," said Nathalie Constantin-Metral, senior researcher at the consulting and investment services company. "Many currencies, including the euro and British pound, have weakened considerably against a strong U.S. dollar, causing a number of European cities to plummet in the rankings," she said in a statement.