New Zealand is the 17th most expensive country in the world, marginally more expensive to live in than Australia, a World Bank study says.

    The bank's International Comparison Program compiles economic data into "purchasing power parities" (PPP) that make it possible to compare the output of economies and the welfare of people in real terms, outside of exchange rate fluctuations.

    On Wednesday, it issued a detailed report of the preliminary results of its 2005 study. The study takes into account the relative prices between many countries from a broad range of goods and services, including capital and government expenditures.

    The report created a price level index of 100. Anything above means it is more expensive. New Zealand scored 134 and Australia 132.

    The most expensive was Iceland on 191, with other top fliers including Denmark 176, and Switzerland 174. The United States came in at 124. The average for 46 OECD and European Union countries, the richest grouping in the world, to which New Zealand belongs, was 123.