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Singapore and Zurich surpassed New York to become the world’s most expensive cities to live in this year, according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2023 report.
The sky-high cost of car ownership, pricey alcohol and rising grocery prices saw Singapore pull ahead of the US city, with which it shared top spot last year.
Zurich jumped from sixth place last year to joint first, thanks in part to the strong Swiss franc, as well as expensive groceries, household goods and recreation.
Geneva, tied with New York in third position, and Hong Kong rounded out the list of the top five costliest places. Overall, global prices rose an average 7.4% year-on-year in local currency terms, slightly down on last year’s 8.1% increase.
Chinese cities were among the biggest movers down the rankings, mainly due to the country’s slow post-pandemic recovery and subdued consumer demand.
The top 10 most expensive cities in the world
Singapore — 1
Zurich — 1
Geneva — 3
New York — 3
Hong Kong — 5
Los Angeles — 6
Paris — 7
Copenhagen — 8
Tel Aviv — 8
San Francisco — 10
Other findings from the study were:
- Los Angeles (sixth place) and San Francisco (10th) were the only other US cities to make the top 10
- The cheapest city remained the Syrian capital of Damascus, in spite of its cost-of-living basket price rising 321%
- Mexico’s Santiago de Querétaro and Aguascalientes were the biggest global movers upwards in the ranking after the peso strengthened against the US dollar
- The weaker Japanese yen saw Tokyo slip 23 places to 60th place and Osaka drop 27 spots to rank 70th.
- While Israel’s Tel Aviv made the top 10, the survey was carried out before the Israel-Hamas war, which may have affected prices
- Utility prices rose the most slowly out of the 10 broad categories of goods and services examined, increasing by 5.7%
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