Singapore and Zurich surpassed New York to become the world’s most expensive cities to live in this year, according to the latest report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. This marks the ninth time in the last 11 years that Singapore has claimed the top spot, while Zurich has made a remarkable leap from sixth place last year to jointly hold the first position.
The sky-high cost of car ownership, pricey alcohol and rising grocery prices saw Singapore pull ahead of the US city, with which it shared the top spot last year. Zurich’s ascent can be attributed to the strength of the Swiss franc and elevated costs in categories such as groceries, household goods, and recreation.
Despite tying with Singapore for the first position last year, New York slipped to third place this year, sharing the spot with Geneva. The study indicates a 1.9% increase in prices in the popular U.S. destination. The Economist Intelligence Unit highlighted that many cities globally are grappling with rising prices due to high inflation, with a 7.4% year-on-year increase in local currency terms for more than 200 commonly used goods and services. Although this figure is slightly lower than the previous year, it remains higher than the trend observed from 2017 to 2021.
Asia experiences relatively lower inflation, explaining why only two Asian cities secured positions in the top 10. Hong Kong, the only other Asian destination in the top 10, was fifth, while Los Angeles was at No. 6.
Paris claimed the seventh spot, Tel Aviv and Copenhagen tied for eighth, and San Francisco rounded out the top 10. Notably, the survey was conducted before the October outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
