Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which already had a reputation for being expensive, are comparatively a lot more expensive than last year, at least according to Mercer's annual Cost of Living survey .
Dubai was ranked the 23rd most expensive city for expatriate workers in the world – a staggering 44 spots higher than its ranking of 67 last year. This makes it the most expensive Arab city, beating out last year's title winner, Beirut.
Abu Dhabi came in second for the Arab world at 33rd (up from 68), while Beirut landed at No. 44 (up from 63).
Why did these Middle Eastern cities see such a jump?
"Many currencies in the Middle East are pegged to the US dollar, which pushed the cities up in the ranking," said Nathalie Constantin-Métral, the principal at Mercer responsible for compiling the ranking. "Steep increase for expatriate rental accommodations particularly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai also contributed to the increase of the cities in the ranking."
The UAE and Lebanon both peg their currencies to the dollar, while rental prices have sky-rocketed in the UAE after the property market recovered from the crash in 2009.
Overall in the world, Luanda, Angola came in as the most expensive city for expat workers to live in. Not surprising, for a city where a small trip to the grocery can rack up more than a $1,000 bill .