Top 10 Asian cities with the highest living costs are freshly out

For years, Japan has had the dubious honor of being home to Asia's most expensive cities for expatriate employees and regular tourists alike.

However, with the dollar's weakness and the appreciation of Asian currencies, Tokyo is no longer the most expensive city in Asia. ECA International, a London-based human resources consultancy, revealed in their survey that last year Seoul replaced Tokyo as the top-ranked city in Asia for cost of living. Over the past two years, the Korean won appreciated 13% against the dollar; thus, "the cost of living in Seoul is almost 10% higher than in Tokyo," said Lee Quane, Managing Director of ECA Hong Kong, who announced the latest rankings of Asian cities this week.

Nevertheless, budget-conscious travelers should not rush to improve your Japanese proficiency just yet for a trip to Japan, because Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kobe still closely follow Seoul, occupying the top positions in the rankings. Meanwhile, the cost of living in other Asian cities is rapidly closing the gap with Seoul and Tokyo. For instance, due to the Chinese government allowing the renminbi to appreciate, the cost of living in Beijing and Shanghai has surged. Singapore's prices are also on the rise. Looking around, it seems like everything is going up, but is there any good news? Yes, there is. For example, you can still afford to go to Bangalore, India's outsourcing hub, which ranked 19th in ECA's list. Cheaper options? The cheapest would be Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.