World’s Most Expensive Cities: New York And Singapore Top List

The world’s most expensive cities are jointly New York and Singapore, according to the annual Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey.

It is the first time New York has topped the rankings. Last year’s number one, Tel Aviv, is now placed third.

Overall, the average cost of living in the world’s biggest cities is up 8.1% this year, the EIU survey reports.

The war in Ukraine and Covid’s impact on supply chains were identified as factors behind the increase.

Inflation was particularly high in Istanbul – with prices up by 86% – Buenos Aires (64%) and Tehran (57%).

High inflation in the US was one of the reasons for New York topping the list.

Los Angeles and San Francisco also made the top 10 – earlier this year, US inflation was the highest in more than 40 years.

The strengthening dollar was also a factor in the US cities’ prominence.

The most expensive cities in 2022…

1 = New York

1 = Singapore

3 = Tel Aviv

4 = Hong Kong

4 = Los Angeles

6 = Zurich

7 = Geneva

8 = San Francisco

9 = Paris

10 = Sydney

10 = Copenhagen

…and the least expensive

161 = Colombo

161 = Bangalore

161 = Algiers

164 = Chennai

165 = Ahmedabad

166 = Almaty

167 = Karachi

168 = Tashkent

169 = Tunis

170 = Tehran

171 = Tripoli

172 = Damascus

Source: EIU’s World Cost of Living index