No wonder your budget feels so pinched. According to a recent index from the Economist, Copenhagen ranks as the fifteenth most expensive city in the world.

The Danish capital was beat out for the top spot by Tokyo, which reclaimed its status this year as the most expensive city after being topped in 2011 by Zurich.

The Economist's bi-annual index measures the cost of living in world cities by averaging the prices of 160 selected products and services such as food and drink, household supplies, transport and recreational costs. Prices are then converted into US dollars as a central currency and compared to prices for the same products in New York, which is used as a base city.

According to the survey, Copenhagen’s general cost of living has declined in the past five years in comparison to New York prices. A common feature of the report was the general decline in prices across all cities – only 12 of the 131 surveyed saw an overall rise in the cost of living.

Asian and Australian cities continue to move up the living costs scale, with cities such as Osaka and Singapore claiming places in the top ten along with Sydney and Melbourne. Asian cities made up 11 of the 20 most expensive locations, with most of the remaining spots taken by cities in Europe. Among those were European capitals Zurich, Paris, and Copenhagen’s Nordic neighbour, Oslo, which all ranked in the top ten.

The cheapest cities, the report indicated, are Karachi, Pakistan and Mumbai.