New York and Los Angeles are among the 10 most expensive cities in the world, according to a new ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The cities have become especially costly as the dollar has strengthened against foreign currencies like the euro and yen. The yen has lost about half of its value in the past three years as the Bank of Japan expanded its money supply in an effort to lift the country’s economy out of another recession, while the European Central Bank introduced negative interest rates to cheapen its currency.

Singapore took the top spot in the ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit for the third straight year, followed by Zurich and Hong Kong, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The survey compared more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services in each city. The index doesn’t include the cost of shelter, which may explain why San Francisco’s red-hot housing market didn’t lift the California city.

“Even if the cost of living in, say, New York didn’t rise much for New Yorkers over the past 12 months, the survey will show that New York became more expensive because the dollar strengthened, raising prices of goods and services relative to other countries,” the newspaper reported.

New York climbed to No. 7 on the list from No. 22 a year earlier. Los Angeles was tied for No. 8 on the list, while other American cities included Chicago (21), Minneapolis (24), Washington, D.C. (26), Houston (31) and San Francisco (34). Cleveland and Atlanta were the least expensive with a cost of living of one-third less than New York.

European cities dominate the list with Zurich, Geneva, Paris and Londong ranking higher than New York.

In dollar terms, those cities may get cheaper as the European Central Bank loosens monetary policy.

On Thursday, the ECB cut its deposit rate deeper into negative territory and increased monthly asset buys to 80 billion euros from 60 billion euros, greater than estimates for an increase to 70 billion.

Most Expensive Cities

1. Singapore
2. Hong Kong
3. Zurich
4. Geneva
5. Paris
6. London
7. New York
8. Los Angeles
9. Seoul
10. Copenhagen
11. Chicago
12. Minneapolis
13. Washington, DC

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