According to a recent worldwide poll, Singapore and Zurich have surpassed York as the most expensive places to live this year.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2023 study, the sky-high cost of auto ownership, pricy booze, and growing grocery costs propelled Singapore ahead of the US metropolis with which it shared first place last year.
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Zurich rose from sixth to equal top place last year, owing in part to the strong Swiss currency, as well as high prices for food, home products, and amusement.
Geneva tied for third place with New York, while Hong Kong rounded out the top five most expensive cities. Overall, worldwide prices climbed 7.4% year on year in local currency terms, somewhat less than the 8.1% increase seen last year.
Due to the country’s delayed post-pandemic recovery and muted consumer demand, Chinese cities were among the greatest movers down the rankings.
Important Findings
The only other US cities in the top ten were Los Angeles (sixth) and San Francisco (10th).
After the peso rose against the US dollar, Mexico’s Santiago de Querétaro and Aguascalientes were the largest worldwide movers up in the list.
Because of the lower Japanese yen, Tokyo fell 23 places to 60th and Osaka fell 27 places to 70th.
While Tel Aviv, Israel, in the top 10, the study was conducted before to the Israel-Hamas war, which may have affected costs.
Utility prices were the slowest of the ten main categories of goods and services studied, rising by 5.7%.
“The supply-side shocks that led to price increases in 2021-22 have reduced since China abolished its Covid-19 restrictions in late 2022, while the rapid increase in energy prices seen after Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022 has also eased,” said Upasana Dutt, head of global living costs at the Employees International Union (EIU). “Despite upside risks we expect inflation to decrease further in 2024, easing prices globally.”
The poll was conducted between August 14 and September 11 and compared over 400 unique prices in 173 cities worldwide.
Top ten most expensive cities in the world, as of 2023
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
