Tokyo has regained the unenviable title of the world's most expensive city for expatriates, while the eurozone crisis has made many European cities cheaper, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

At the other end of the scale, the survey by the Mercer group named the Pakistani port Karachi as the least expensive city, with living costs around three times cheaper than in the Japanese capital.

The report, published annually to help companies assess compensation allowances for expatriate workers, compared the cost of over 200 items in 214 cities, using New York as a reference. The items on the list included housing, food and transport.