Singapore is the 10th most expensive city in the world to live in, up from its 15th position last year, says a survey. 

The Economist Intelligence Unit's cost of living survey also ranked Tokyo and Osaka as the top two costliest cities in the world respectively. The Japanese cities were ranked sixth and eighth respectively last year.

Of the 132 cities surveyed, Asia also played home to the cheapest city in the world - Karachi, Pakistan.

The rest of the top 10 spots were taken up by Western European countries like Paris (No. 3) and Oslo (No. 5).

However, the cost of living gap between countries has closed. The once-strong United States dollar meant that American cities, along with any country that pegged its currency to the dollar, have jumped in the ranking.

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have risen from joint 39th to joint 23rd position, and Hong Kong has risen by 17 places to 11th in the ranking.

Much less affected are the lower-cost locations in the world. The cheapest cities in the survey remain predominantly Asian, with four of the bottom five hailing from the Indian subcontinent: Kathmandu, Nepal (No. 128) and the Indian cities of New Delhi (No. 129) and Mumbai (No. 130).