RISING living costs and a surging Australian dollar mean it is now more expensive to live in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth than in London, Vienna, Rome or New York.

The latest worldwide cost of living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranks four Australian capitals among the 15 most expensive cities in the world.

Sydney and Melbourne rank as the sixth and seventh most expensive cities in the world. Credit:James Alcock

Sydney and Melbourne rank sixth and seventh on the list behind Tokyo, Oslo, Osaka Kobe, Paris and Zurich. Perth and Brisbane are ranked 13th and 14th, nearly 25 per cent more expensive to live in than New York.

The survey compares the cost of living by sampling prices of more than 400 individual items from a range of different stores in 133 cities around the world.