Bangkok seen from a highrise building overlooking the Chao Phraya River. (Photo by Krit Promsaka na Sakolnakorn)

The Thai capital remains roughly in the middle of the pack in an annual ranking of cost of living for expatriates in cities around the globe released on Wednesday.

Bangkok was ranked 74th of all 209 cities ranked in the Cost of Living Survey by Mercer, a drop from 45th last year and 43rd in 2014.

Hong Kong was ranked the most expensive city in the world this year, overtaking Luanda in Angola which slipped to 2nd, and at the bottom of the table of 209 cities was Namibia's capital Windhoek.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore was ranked the most expensive at 4th and Yangon was next at 39th. Manila was cheaper than Bangkok at 80th, followed by Ho Chi Minh City and Bandar Seri Begawan -- both at 88th -- and Jakarta at 93rd.

The second half of the table saw Hanoi at 106th, Phnom Penh at 118th and Kuala Lumpur at 151st. Vientiane was not on the survey.

Mercer did not give details on individual cities.

The annual survey calculated the rankings from exchange rates and an international basket of goods and services in March this year. It did not list the goods or services.

Inflation and currency volatility influenced the direction of the costs of goods and services, Ilya Bonic, senior partner and president of Mercer’s Talent business, said in a statement.

Mercer is a global consulting firm headquartered in New York primarily focusing on human resources development.