This summer, as time-poor professionals were ordering coffee
pods delivered by drone, archaeologists nearby were uncovering a Byzantine wine
press and a 7th-century gold coin. Both discoveries might come in handy in the
city that is now the world’s most expensive.
According to the latest findings of the Worldwide Cost of
Living Survey from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), our sister company, a
strong shekel and rising prices for alcohol, groceries and transport have
pushed Tel Aviv to the top of the ranking, up four places from last year.
Paris, which shared the top spot with Hong Kong and Zurich in 2020, is now the
second-priciest place to live, alongside Singapore.
The survey, which compares the prices of more than 200
products and services in 173 cities around the world, is primarily used by
firms to negotiate appropriate compensation when relocating staff, but it can
also reveal pricing trends at both the local and global level.
Supply-chain problems related to the pandemic have pushed
the price of goods up in much of the world.
In September the cost of shipping a standard container was
four times higher than a year earlier. Some cities experienced additional
pressure. American sanctions imposed on Iran pushed its capital, Tehran, 50
places up the ranking to 29th.
The price of the EIU’s basket of goods and services there
has risen by 42% in local-currency terms since November 2020. But this is
dwarfed by a 1,766% increase in Caracas, thanks in part to price controls
imposed by Venezuela’s government.
Even excluding a handful of such cities with very high
inflation, the EIU’s data show average global prices have risen by 3.5%
year-on-year in local-currency terms, compared with just 1.9% last year.
Prices have not risen everywhere. Rome saw the biggest drop,
falling 16 places to 48th, with a particularly sharp decline in the clothing
category as even fashionable Italians gave up dressing up for the home office.
And most American cities have fallen in the rankings thanks
to government stimulus injected into the economy during the pandemic. (New York
remains the costliest American city, in sixth place.)
But the general picture is one of disruption and higher
prices. When the survey was undertaken, in August and September, the average
cost of a litre of unleaded petrol across all cities was 21% higher than a year
before.
A huge rise in natural gas prices in Europe and Asia and
panic buying at petrol stations in Britain occurred just too late to influence
this year’s ranking. But they do not bode well for costs in 2022.
Here's the list of EIU's top 10 most expensive cities in the world:
1. Tel Aviv, Israel
2. Paris, France
2. Singapore, Singapore
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
6. New York, US
7. Geneva, Switzerland
8. Copenhagen, Denmark
9. Los Angeles, US
10. Osaka, Japan
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