SINGAPORE (March 10); The republic is the world's most expensive city for the third year running, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit in its latest wordwide cost of living survey.

Singapore was ranked the priciest ahead of Zurich, Hong Kong, Geneva and Paris.London was sixth and New York seventh.

It was still the costliest city, despite its its relative costs falling by 10% from the 2015 survey.

The survey compares the cost of a basket of more than 160 items, from food, toiletries and clothing to domestic help, transport and utility bills, across 133 cities.

The cheapest cities were Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, followed by Bangalore and Mumbai in India, the EIU says.

The EIU notes that costs across the world have been highly volatile because of the rising US dollar, currency devaluations, as well as slumping oil and commodity prices.