Five of Australia's capital cities rank among the world's 20 most expensive places to live.
They rank ahead of London, New York, Rome, Los Angeles, Berlin or Hong Kong, the latest survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit finds.
Sydney leads the list of the five Australian mainland capital cities in the top 20.
Sydney globally is ranked at number seven, slightly ahead of Melbourne at number eight.
Perth is the 13th most expensive place to live in the world, Brisbane is 14th and Adelaide is 18th.
The report's editor, Jon Copestake, said the cost of a loaf of bread in Sydney had almost doubled in the past 10 years, while petrol had risen threefold.
He placed the blame for the high cost of living on the strong Australian dollar.
"Exchange rates have been the greatest influence for the Australian cost of living, with the Australian dollar seeing its value to the US dollar double in a decade," he said.
Local price inflation, especially last year, has also played a part, he said.
When the survey was last conducted in June, four of Australia's cities were in the top 20.
Mr Copestake said a city's desirability as a destination could also affect its cost of living ranking.
Cost of living increases in Switzerland, where the Swiss Franc has emerged as a haven currency amid the eurozone crisis, led to currency-related cost pressures there.
For the first time in 20 years Zurich outranked Tokyo as the world's most expensive city.
Switzerland, Japan and Australia each ha two cities in the top most expensive cities in the world.
The survey compares the price of more than 400 items including food clothing, rent, transport, utility bills and recreational costs.
At the other end of the scale the least expensive city in the world is Muscat, in Amman.
