Worldwide, the cost of living is at its highest point in the last 20 years making, driving up the amount needed to live in some of the most desirable and populous locations on the planet, according to The Economist's 2022 Cost of Global Living report, published Thursday.
"The war in Ukraine, Western sanctions on Russia and China's zero-Covid policies have caused supply-chain problems that, combined with rising interest rates and exchange-rate shifts, have resulted in a cost-of-living crisis across the world," Upasana Dutt, head of worldwide cost of living at The Economist Intelligence Unit (EUI) said in a statement.
"We can clearly see the impact in this year's index, with the average price rise across the 172 cities in our survey being the strongest we've seen in 20 years," she added. "The rise in petrol prices in cities was particularly strong (as it was last year), but food, utilities and household goods are all getting more expensive for city-dwellers."
The most expensive
New York and Singapore have the unenviable honour of topping the list of the most expensive cities in the world, knocking Tel Aviv out of the top spot. In joint fourth place are Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
Four other cities occupy the top ten: Zurich (6), Geneva (7), Paris (9) and in joint tenth Copenhagen (alongside Sydney).
The EUI examined expenses in 172 cities around the world including individual prices of more than 200 products and services. The EUI team covered a range of businesses to figure out how prices have swung over the last year.
European variations
In Europe, the increase in city costs was largely due to increasing gas prices rising as Russia's war in Ukraine persists. The EIU also found the uneven value of the euro causes some cities to be more expensive, although not all European nations use the currency.
Russian cities Moscow and St Petersburg both became more expensive to live in, both moving up 88 places to 37th place. Ukrainian capital Kyiv wasn't included in the list this year.
Among European cities that dropped in the rankings are Stockholm, Luxembourg and Lyon. Brussels fell 28 places to 64th place.
Damascus (172) and Tripoli (171) are the cheapest cities analysed.
Top 10 most expensive cities in 2022
1. New York and Singapore
3. Tel Aviv, Israel
4. Hong Kong and Los Angeles
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Geneva, Switzerland
8. San Francisco, California
9. Paris, France
10. Copenhagen, Denmark
