S'pore the 6th most expensive Asian city

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Singapore has jumped two notches this year to become the sixth most expensive city in Asia, according to the latest Cost of Living Survey by ECA International.

The survey also showed that Singapore, for the first time in at least 10 years, is deemed more expensive than Hong Kong, which slipped from sixth to ninth place last year.

“When we look at the overall cost of ECA’s basket of goods and services in Singapore a year ago, these items were 1.7 percent less expensive in Singapore than when purchased in Hong Kong,” said Lee Quane, Regional Director of ECA International Asia.

“Now those same items are 8.5 percent more expensive in Singapore than Hong Kong.”

Lee noted that rising prices in Singapore might erode some of the cost advantages the country used to have over other cities in the region.

Meanwhile, Japan dominated the top 10 list for Asia, with Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe being four of the most expensive cities in Asia. They were followed by Seoul in fifth spot while Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Busan trailed behind Singapore.

Globally, Tokyo led the top 10, followed by Oslo, Geneva, Nagoya, Zurich and Yokohama. Other cities included in the top 10 are the Swiss capital of Bern, Stavanger in Norway, Basel in Switzerland and Japan’s Kobe. Singapore rose to 31st place, while Hong Kong dropped 26 places to 58th in the global ranking.

Conducted in September, the annual Cost of Living Survey used indicators comprising day-to-day goods and services like prices of clothing, groceries and electrical goods. It measured the cost of living in over 400 cities worldwide.

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