It may come as a surprise, but Sydney is no longer among the world's top 10 most expensive cities to live.

The Emerald City has fallen six places to 16th place in the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living 2019 survey, while Melbourne dropped eight spots to 22nd and Brisbane was 41st (-15). Adelaide (51st, -21) and Perth (64th, -18) were among the biggest movers down the ranking in the past 12 months.

Sydney has dropped out of the top 10. Credit:Wolter Peeters

“Australian cities were cheaper by between 10 and 13 per cent from last year, and interestingly it’s Sydney and Melbourne where the drop has been larger (13 per cent),” EIU global chief economist Simon Baptist said.

About 8 per cent of that drop was due to the weaker Australian dollar, he said.