Hong Kong was ranked the most expensive city in the world for expatriates this year, followed by Tokyo and Zurich, and Singapore and Seoul took the fourth and fifth spot respectively— four out of five of the world's most expensive cities for expats are in Asia.

Two other Chinese cities — Shanghai and Beijing — are also on the top 10 list. Shanghai was up one place from 2017 to take the seventh spot, while Beijing advanced two places to gain the ninth, according to Mercer Cost of Living Survey this year.

"Stronger Chinese monetary regulations, a flourishing economy and a push to have the Chinese yuan as an international currency pushed Chinese cities up in the ranking," Yvonne Traber, global mobility product solutions leader at consulting firm Mercer, said in a news release on the company's website.

According to the release, the 24th annual Cost of Living Survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation strategies for their expatriate employees. New York City is used as the base city for all comparisons, and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.

The survey includes over 375 cities throughout the world; this year's ranking included 209 cities across five continents and measured comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

The top 10 list is as follows:

No 10 Bern  Switzerland