Cost of living is going up all the time.  I am old enough to remember a 50 cent cup of coffee.  Yes plain coffee.  If you are looking to find The World’s Priciest Place to Live and Work well in is not here in Mesa Arizona.  It is actually in London.  Yes London is now The World’s Priciest Place to Live and Work.

The World’s Priciest Place to Live and Work

London is the world’s most expensive city for companies to relocate employees, ending Hong Kong’s five-year streak on top, according to this year’s annual survey by international real estate firm Savills. The Savills index measures the total cost per employee for renting, living, and working space on a U.S. dollar basis in 12 world cities.

The combined cost of all three spaces for a single person in London has jumped to $120,568 a year, up 39 percent from 2008. London’s surge in property prices and a stronger currency (the pound) have inflated its costs in dollars and driven its rise to the top of the list, according to Savills. Residential real estate prices there have soared 18.4 percent in the past year alone.

Hong Kong fell to No. 2 on this year’s list, with the current average price of renting residential and office space at $116,000 per employee, which is back to 2008 levels.

New York and Paris came in at No.3 and No. 4, respectively, where combined costs of renting residential and office space topped $100,000 per employee per year.

Meanwhile, Mumbai retained its position as the cheapest city for companies relocating employees, at $30,000 per person per year. That’s down 21 percent since 2008, according to the survey.

Overall, “this year has seen much more modest real estate price growth in nearly all our world cities, and some have shown small falls,” says Yolande Barnes, director of Savills World Research. “We expect this subdued trend to continue as investor interest and market activity shifts to second-tier cities.”