U.S., Canadian Cities Become Less Expensive

Tokyo tops the most expensive cities in the world for those who pay in dollars, while U.S. and Canadian cities have become cheaper this year, according to a survey published Wednesday.

Mexico City, which ranked in the middle of the ratings a year ago, plummeted to the bottom rank of 125 due to the collapse of the peso, said Corporate Resources Group, a Geneva-based consulting company.

Seattle, the only Washington state city on the list, ranked 105th, tied with Cleveland and Bratislava, Slovakia.

The company said the gap between the most- and the leastexpensive cities has widened considerably in two years, hitting 249 percent, compared with 186 percent in 1993.

With New York serving as base of 100, Tokyo had an index of 220, followed by Osaka, Japan, at 206. The next six places were held by European cities - Zurich, Switzerland; Geneva; Oslo, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; Vienna, Austria; and Moscow.

Moscow, which ranked third last year, dropped to eighth because prices quoted in dollars were stable there and strong Western European currencies had boosted costs in those cities.

Libreville, Gabon, was the only Third World city in the top 10, tying Helsinki, Finland, for ninth place.