World's 20 Most Expensive Cities (PHOTOS): ECA International Survey

With the economic recovery sputtering along Americans may still not feel much relief in when it comes to their pocketbooks, but they can at least be relieved to know that, according to a new survey, not a single U.S. city ranks among the top 25 most expensive urban areas to live in in the world.

The rankings, released last month as part of ECA International's Cost of Living Survey, found the most expensive U.S. city to be (no real surprise here) Manhattan, which landed at number 29 on the list. (This year's #1: Tokyo.) The next American city to appear was Honolulu, at number 41.

According to ECA International, its cost of living indices are "calculated based upon surveys carried out annually in March and September using a basket of day-to-day goods and services." See a full explanation of their methodology here.

So what are the most expensive cities in the world? Find out below.