Revealed: World’s top 10 cheapest and most expensive cities in 2019
Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh featured among the top 10 cities that saw the biggest move upwards in the ranking
Singapore, Hong Kong and Paris have been named the world’s most expensive cities to visit and live in, according to the latest annual cost of living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The 2019 Worldwide Cost of Living survey ranked 133 countries based on the costs of over 150 items consumer items.
The top 10 most expensive cities are mainly from Asia and Europe, with Singapore the only city that has maintained its ranking from the previous year, the report stated.
Meanwhile Venezuelan capital Caracas replaced Damascus to claim the title of the least expensive city in the world.
“Following inflation nearing 1,000,000 per cent last year and the Venezuelan government launching a new currency, the situation continues to change almost daily. The new currency value has varied so much since its creation and the economy was demonetised compelling people to use commodities and exchange services and personal items like clothing, auto parts and jewellery to purchase basic goods such as groceries,” the report stated.
Damascus (Syria), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Almaty (Kazakastan) and Bangalore (India) rounded off the top five cheapest cities, according to the survey.
Regionally, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh featured among the top 10 cities that saw the biggest move upwards in the ranking.
The Omani capital now ranks 92 on the list (up 15 spots), with the UAE capital ranking 49 (up 13 spots) and the Saudi Arabia capital ranking 105 (up 12 spots from last year).
Overall, the impact of high inflation and currency denominations is reflected in the average cost of living this year, the survey stated.
“Taking an average of the indices for all cities surveyed using New York as the base city, the global cost of living has fallen to 69 per cent, down from 73 per cent last year. This remains significantly lower than five years ago, when the average cost of living index across the cities surveyed was 82 per cent and 10 years ago was 89 per cent,” it explained.
Looking ahead, instability and conflict around the world could continue to fuel localised, shortage-driven inflation, which would have an impact on the cost of living in certain cities, the report opined.
“With emerging economies supplying much of the wage and demand growth, it seems likely that these locations will become relatively more expensive as economic growth and commodity prices recover. However, price convergence of this kind is very much a long-term trend, and in the short and medium term the capacity for economic shocks and currency swings can make a location very expensive or very cheap very quickly,” it added.
TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES FOR 2019
SINGAPORE
Country: Singapore
Rank: 1
Rank movement: 0
PARIS
Country: France
Rank: 1
Rank movement: 1
HONG KONG
Country: China
Rank: 1
Rank movement: 3
ZURICH
Country: Switzerland
Rank: 4
Rank movement: -2
GENEVA
Country: Switzerland
Rank: 5
Rank movement: 1
OSAKA
Country: Japan
Rank: 5
Rank movement: 6
SEOUL
Country: South Korea
Rank: 7
Rank movement: -1
COPENHAGEN
Country: Denmark
Rank: 7
Rank movement: 1
NEW YORK
Country: US
Rank: 7
Rank movement: 6
TEL AVIV
Country: Israel
Rank: 10
Rank movement: -1
LOS ANGELES
Country: US
Rank: 10
Rank movement: 4
TOP 10 CHEAPEST CITIES FOR 2019
CARACUS
Country: Venezuela
Rank: 133
Rank movement: -1
DAMASCUS
Country: Syria
Rank: 132
Rank movement: 1
TASHKENT
Country: Uzbekistan
Rank: 131
Rank movement: -19
ALMATY
Country: Kazakhstan
Rank: 130
Rank movement: 1
BANGALORE
Country: India
Rank: 129
Rank movement: 0
KARACHI
Country: Pakistan
Rank: 127
Rank movement: 0
LAGOS
Country: Nigeria
Rank: 127
Rank movement: 3
BUENOS AIRES
Country: Argentina
Rank: 125
Rank movement: -48
CHENNAI
Country: India
Rank: 125
Rank movement: 1
NEW DELHI
Country: India
Rank: 123
Rank movement: 1
