澳元或许仍顽固高开，但已走弱成功将悉尼带出全球十大昂贵城市排行榜的排名。
某咨询公司《2014年生活成本调查》显示，悉尼虽然仍是澳洲最昂贵的城市，但已经从全球第九的名次坠落至第26名。
这份调查涵盖了五个大陆的211个城市，衡量了包括住房、交通、食物、衣服、家庭货物和娱乐的成本。
澳洲的其他州府城市在这份调查中的排名也开始偏后，墨尔本从第17位退至第33位，柏斯从第19名推后至第37名，布里斯班则直接跌出50名开外。
美世人才业务主管亚当斯（Garry Adams）称，澳元走软是澳洲城市排名退后的主要原因。自2010年7月份以来，澳元就下降了14.6%至94.06美仙。
亚当斯称，这使得澳洲在全球的竞争力加强，尤其是在吸引优秀人才方面。
“与去年相比，悉尼跻身全球十大最昂贵城市榜单，我们必须确保工资能平等地反应生活成本的差异，这样才能将海外人才吸引到悉尼并留在悉尼。”“现在，我们在设定工资和从全球人才市场中吸引职员方面变得更加灵活。”
亚当斯还表示，排名的下降还将吸引更多公司将亚太地区的总部设定在澳洲。
与此同时，中国城市的排名却大幅上涨。上海前进了三个名次，从去年的第14名挤进了今年的第10名。北京紧随上海之后，排在第11名，深圳上升12个名次，排名次17，广州跳升11个名次排第24。在中国的生活成本越来越昂贵。
亚当斯将中国城市排名的提高归咎于汇率变动。人民币对美元自2010年以来增值10%以上。“人民币的升值和西欧汇率的变动导致这些地区的国家变得更昂贵，澳洲和新西兰的城市反而走出了榜单。”
安哥拉首都罗安达对海外工作者来说依旧是全球最昂贵的城市，乍得的恩贾梅纳排名第二。
其他进入前十的城市还包括香港（第3名）、新加坡（第4名）、苏黎世（第5名）、日内瓦（第6名）、东京（第7名）、伯尔尼（第8名）和莫斯科（第9名）。
Lower dollar knocks Sydney off the top 10 most expensive cities
Jared Lynch
July 10, 2014
The dollar may still be stubbornly high,but it has weakened enough to knock Sydney off a list of the world's 10 most expensive cities.
Sydney, which is still Australia's most expensive city, has plunged from ninth position to 26th in Mercer's 2014 Cost of Living survey.
The survey covers 211 cities across five continents and measures costs including housing, transportation, food,clothing, household goods and entertainment.
Australia's other capital cities also fell down the list this year, with Melbourne dropping 17 places to 33, while Perth fell 19 spots to 37. Brisbane dropped outside the top 50.
Garry Adams, leader of Mercer's Talent business, said a softening of the dollar against the US currency was the"primary reason" for the drop in rankings. Since July 2010, the dollar has dived 14.6 per cent to US94.06¢.
As such, the changes did not mean Australian cities had become more affordable for residents. But Mr Adams said it had made Australia more competitive globally, particularly in attracting talented staff.
"Compared to last year, where Sydney sat within the top 10 most expensive cities globally, we were looking at ensuring salaries adequately reflected the difference in cost of living to an employee's home country to attract and retain talent," he said.
"Now we're provided with a lot more flexibility in setting salaries and attracting employees from the global talentpool, knowing the expat dollar will go a lot further here."
Mr Adams said the fall in rankings could also make Australian cities more appealing for companies to use as headquarters for their Asia and Pacific operations.
"The drop in costs means they[Australian cities] become even more attractive as a location for global assignments."
China had a swag of cities jump in rankings, with Shanghai leaping three places to enter the top 10 after being ranked 14th last year. Beijing was next, at 11th, with Shenzhen rising 12 spots to 17th and Guangzhou 11 places to 24th.
Mr Adams attributed the increases to currency fluctuations. The Chinese yuan has rallied more than 10 per cent against the US dollar since 2010.
"The strengthening of the Chinese yuan and currencies in western Europe against the US dollar has also seen countries in these regions become more expensive, and driven Australian and New Zealand cities down the list."
Luanda, the capital of Angola, maintained its position as the world's most expensive city for expatriates, while Chad'sN'Djamena came second.
"While Luanda and N'Djamena are relatively inexpensive cities, they are quite costly for expatriates since imported goods come at a premium," said Ed Hannibal, Mercer partner and global leader for mobility practice.
"In addition, finding secure living accommodations that meet the standards of expatriates can be challenging and quite costly as well. This is generally why some African cities rank higher in our survey."
Rounding out the top 10 were the usual suspects: Hong Kong (3), Singapore (4), Zurich (5), Geneva (6), Tokyo (7), Bern(8) and Moscow (9).
