New York And Singapore Named World’s Most Expensive Cities

New York and Singapore rank as the world’s most expensive cities, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) annual Worldwide Cost of Living survey.

New York tops the rankings for the first time, while Singapore is back in the top position for the eighth time in ten years.

Israel’s Tel Aviv, which was found to be the world’s most expensive city in 2021, is ranked at third place this year.

As well as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco also moved up into the list of the ten most expensive cities worldwide. All 22 of the U.S. cities in the WCOL survey rose up the rankings amid rapid price rises and a strong dollar. Six of these – Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Diego, Portland and Boston – were among the ten cities showing the biggest jumps up the rankings.

The biggest upward movers were the Russian cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, which shot up by 88 and 70 places, respectively, as prices soared amid Western sanctions and buoyant energy markets supported the rouble.

Most other European cities fell down the rankings, as the energy crisis and weakening economies pushed down the value of the euro and other local currencies.

Prices for gas and electricity were up by 29 percent on average in local-currency terms in western European cities as the region tries to wean itself off Russian energy.

Syrian capital Damascus and Libyan capital Tripoli remain the cheapest cities.

The survey has seen prices shoot up by 8.1 percent year-on-year on average. This is the highest rate in 20 years.

The war in Ukraine and continuing supply-chain problems have contributed to price rises, affecting production and trade across the world.

The most rapid price increases were for a liter of petrol, which has risen by 22 percent year-on-year on average in local-currency terms amid higher global oil prices.

This year’s survey was conducted between August 16 and September 16 in 172 major cities worldwide.

“The war in Ukraine, Western sanctions on Russia and China’s zero-covid policies have caused supply-chain problems that, combined with rising interest rates and exchange-rate shifts, have resulted in a cost-of-living crisis across the world,” said Upasana Dutt, head of Worldwide Cost Of Living at EIU.

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