A new survey has found Singapore to be the world’s most expensive city for the third year in a row.
Singapore has retained its status as the world’s most expensive city for a third consecutive year. However, its lead over the next two cities, Zurich and Hong Kong, has narrowed, according to the latest Worldwide Cost of Living Survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Geneva and Paris round out the top five cities, followed by London, New York and Los Angeles. The rankings list tracked 133 cities.
Despite Singapore topping the list, the report revealed that prices in the city-state were lower in some categories, such as basic groceries. Prices are 33 percent higher in Seoul, followed by Hong Kong (28 percent) and Tokyo (26 percent).
However, Singapore is considered more expensive in other categories.
“It is the most expensive place in the world to buy and run a car, thanks to Singapore’s complex Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system. Transport costs in Singapore are 2.7 times higher than in New York. Alongside Seoul, Singapore is also a very expensive city in which to buy clothes and pay for utilities,” stated the report.
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit
The EIU survey compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs.
New York was used as a base for city-to-city comparisons; it has an index set at 100.
The purpose of the survey is to help human resources and finance managers calculate cost-of-living allowances in order to put together compensation packages for expatriates and business travellers, said the EIU.
Read the full report here.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
