Hanoi officially named the most expensive city in Vietnam   A vegetables vendor in Hanoi. Photo credit: Bloomberg Hanoi has surpassed Ho Chi Minh City to become Vietnam’s capital of expenses, as new statistics found its costs of living are up to 22 percent higher than other cities'.  Figures from the General Statistics Office released Friday showed that Hanoi is the most expensive city, based on prices of nearly 1,600 products and services between 2012 and 2014. Ho Chi Minh City came second, although the city is the most expensive when it comes to education services, which are more than 70 percent above Hanoi’s. The southern metropolis was the most expensive place in the country until 2012. Some say the city's efforts to keep prices of food and clothing stable have worked. Consumer prices in northern mountainous provinces including Dien Bien and Son La have been going up, even though they are the poorest places in the country. Transport costs in these provinces are between 2 to 8 percent higher than those in Hanoi. The Mekong Delta, with ample natural resources, has become cheaper recently and is now more affordable than the Red River Delta. Prices in Can Tho, the center of the southern delta, are the lowest compared among Vietnam's top-tier cities, which include Da Nang, Hai Phong and Hue.  Thanh Nien News