Living in Tokyo is suddenly a bargain, at least on a relative basis.

According to data recently published by Mercer, it is now the 49th most expensive city in the world, right behind San Juan, Puerto Rico, and just ahead of Houston.

Osaka is the 146th most expensive city in the world, just behind Wellington. Yokohama is No, 154, just behind Casablanca, and Nagoya No. 161, just behind Santiago.

New York’s Mercer, a consulting subsidiary of NYSE-listed Marsh McLennan, publishes the rankings annually. The cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment are used in compiling the list.

Japanese cities have been dropping fast in the rankings. Tokyo fell a full 30 places from 2023. It was No. 3 in 2020 and No. 1 as recently as 2012. Osaka is down a dramatic 53 places in a year as it became relatively cheaper on a global basis.

A total of 226 cities are on the list.

Mercer found that the price of a cup of coffee in Tokyo fell 9.4% between March 2023 and March 2024, when the list was compiled. That compares with a global increase of 18.1%. Blue jean prices are flat, compared with a global average increase of 20.2%.

The Mercer cost-of-living rankings follow the recent publication of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2024 Liveability Index, which named Osaka as the most livable city in Asia, and ninth globally, and Tokyo as the 14th most livable city globally.

The rankings also dovetail nicely with the Economist’s Big Mac index, which shows that Japan now has one of the cheaper McDonald’s Big Macs in the world, currently costing the equivalent of $3.00.

On Mercer’s 2024 cost-of-living list, Hong Kong was No. 1 overall and Singapore No. 2. New York came in as the 7th most expensive city in the world and London No. 8.

Other cities more expensive than Tokyo include: Beijing (25), Seoul (32) and Shenzhen (34). Phnom Penh, Cambodia (123), Bangkok (129) and Manila (131) are all more expensive than Osaka.

As most of the world has been struggling with very high inflation, prices in Japan have been falling or rising at a slower pace in recent years. Its currency has been falling, and this is also a factor in the Mercer cost-of-living rankings.

“The main factor for this change is currency fluctuations,” said Mia Oshiro, a manager of product solutions at Mercer Japan, noting that the dollar is the base currency used for the report.

Since the data were compiled, the yen has fallen more, meaning that the current ranking may actually be lower than on the published list.

Outside of Asia, European cities dominated the top spots, with Zurich the third most expensive city followed by Geneva, Basel and Bern.

Lagos, Islamabad and Abuja were ranked as the cheapest cities in the world.

Mercer notes that expensive housing can be a major factor in pushing up a city in its global rankings, which are used by human resources professionals in hiring and salary decisions.

Higher costs in some cities make it “increasingly challenging for organizations to attract and retain top talent for international assignments,” Mercer noted in its report.