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Korea's capital ranked third on a Worldwide Cost of Living Survey released on Monday by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Seoul was found to be 22.4 percent more expensive than New York, which is the most expensive city in the U.S.

The survey compared the cost of more than 200 items for expats in each city, including monthly rent, transportation, food and clothing. Seoul has consistently been one of the most world's expensive cities, having taken second place last year and fifth in 2005.

According to the survey, a cup of coffee in Seoul costs US$5.83, which is the highest of all the surveyed cities. The same cup of coffee costs $3.75 in New York, $4.53 in Tokyo and $5.12 in Hong Kong.

A luxury two-bedroom apartment in Seoul rents for $5,037 a month, which is more than $1,000 higher than rents in other cities, such as Tokyo's $4,101, London's $3,888 and New York's $4,000.

Moscow topped the list for the second straight year and was found to be 34.4 percent more expensive than New York. The least expensive city was Asuncion in Paraguay, which Mercer estimates costs half as much to live in as New York.