Auckland and Wellington are cheaper to live in than a year ago - according to the Mercer survey of the world’s most expensive cities.

Of the cities studied, Auckland is now the 100th most expensive place to live compared with 69th in 2005.

Wellington is the 105th most expensive place to live, compared to 76th last year.

The survey takes the cost of living in New York as its base and compares other cities to this base.

The apparent fall in Auckland and Wellington’s cost of living has come about because the NZ Dollar’s exchange rate has fallen against the US Dollar since the same time last year.

Anyone bringing money to New Zealand from overseas will find buying goods in New Zealand cheaper than last year.

People who have been living in New Zealand won’t notice a fall in their cost of living. They will, however, notice that it’s more expensive to move to another city overseas now than if they had moved last year.

New York’s cost of living was 100 points; Auckland’s was 72.9 points and Wellington’s 71.1 points.

The world most expensive city, Moscow was 123.9 points. London - in 5th place - was 110.6 points. Sydney was Australia’s most expensive city - in 19th place - with 91.3 points.