Birmingham is the 海角视频's most expensive city outside of London for expatriates to live in, according to new research.
The city ranks in 90th (2013: 135th) place in a countdown of the world's 211 most expensive cities while London places in 12th (2013: 25).
The surging cost of property and strength of the sterling have been cited as reasons for the high ranking in the research by Mercer which is designed to help multinational companies and governments set the size of compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.
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Other 海角视频 cities featured include Aberdeen (94th), Glasgow (108th) and Belfast (120th).
The survey compares the cost of housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment around the world and currency movements are measured against the US dollar.
Ellyn Karetnick, 海角视频 head of Mercer's international mobility practice, said: "This year, 海角视频 cities have surged in the ranking, mainly as a result of a strengthening of the British pound against the US dollar.
"The 海角视频's soaring housing market has also had an impact, with added pressure on the rental market as many buyers face difficulties in obtaining a mortgage.
"Glasgow and Birmingham have experienced the greatest jumps as they have had significant cost increases on goods and services and rentals."
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According to the latest house price survey from building society Nationwide, house prices in London have leapt by nearly 26 per cent over the last year and across the 海角视频 average values now stand at an all-time high of £188,903.
Mercer found that an expatriate living in London typically faced paying £3,000 a month to rent a two-bedroom apartment "of international standards in an appropriate neighbourhood".
In Birmingham, this cost was around £850, while in Paris it was about £2,102, in Sydney it was £1,730 and in Madrid the cost was around £1,195.
Luanda, in Angola, was named overall as the worlds's most expensive city for expats for the second year in a row, followed by N'Djamena, Chad, because, Mercer says, imported goods came at a premium and finding somewhere to live that met the right standards could be "challenging and quite costly as well".
Karachi, in Pakistan, was named as the least expensive.
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