Top 10 Most Expensive Global Cities in 2013, Sydney on 3rd Place

Not only is the Australian currency rising, even prices of goods and services in major cities in the land down under are also going up at a faster pace. Thus, two Australian cities are in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 10 most expensive cities in the world.

Sydney is on third spot and Melbourne in fifth place. Here's the complete list.

1. Tokyo, Japan

2. Osaka, Japan

3. Sydney, Australia

4. Oslo, Norway

5. Melbourne, Australia

6. Singapore, Singapore

7. Zurich, Switzerland

8. Paris, France

9. Caracas, Venezuela

10. Geneva, Switzerland.

It is significant that half of the top 10 spots are in the Asia-Pacific region, confirming speculations and political and economic forecast that the coming decades will be an Asian Century.

The report, released on Monday, pointed out that 10 years ago, no Australian cities was in the list of the 50 most expensive cities in the world, while these urban centres started to enter the top 10 roster two years ago.

"Australian cities have been rising very quickly up the rankings as economic growth has supported inflation and currency swings to make them costly," the report said.

Twelve months ago, Sydney and Melbourne were only in 7^th and 8^th place.

Significantly, in the 2012 and 2013 lists, the two Aussie cities even outrank New York in the U.S. and London in the U.K.

The two Aussie cities, however, have yet to beat the record of Japan's capital city which has been the most expensive city the past 20 years. Just a sample, a watermelon costs $50 while the exotic fruit, durian, could sell for as high as $100.