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Singapore now the world’s most expensive city
| Published: | 27 Mar at 6 PM |
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Due to the high cost of cars, rents, property prices and the state’s strong currency, Singapore is now the most expensive city on the planet.
The annual Worldwide Coast of Living Report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit named Singapore at the top of its latest list of pricey cities. Tokyo, long an unwilling winner in the upscale contest, has now dropped to sixth place along with Geneva, Melbourne and Caracas.
Paris came out as the second most expensive city, followed by Oslo in third place and Zurich in fourth. Copenhagen came in at number 10, with the four sixth-place holders taking up four slots.
Various lifestyle essentials in addition to cars, property and even wine, were held responsible for racheting up of household bills, with medical services one of the most important. For example, an apartment in a modern Singapore high-rise is three times as expensive to rent as a similar property in London, even given that city’s rocketing real estate prices.
Medical costs in SIngapore have soared to just below USA levels, and a decent family saloon costs around $88,000, triple its price in the UK. Expat housewives complain that meat is almost unaffordable, with a rack of lamb costing the equivalent of £33, and an average bottle of wine priced at £14, twice the cost of the same wine in the UK.
For mobile expats, cities at the other end of the scale include Mumbai, at the bottom of the list, with Karachi and Delhi on about the same level as Kathmandu, Damascus, Algiers, Panama City and, surprisingly, Bucharest. Another surprise, likely to be contested by expat residents, saw Jeddah and Riyadh in the ‘ten least expensive city’ section.
The annual Worldwide Coast of Living Report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit named Singapore at the top of its latest list of pricey cities. Tokyo, long an unwilling winner in the upscale contest, has now dropped to sixth place along with Geneva, Melbourne and Caracas.
Paris came out as the second most expensive city, followed by Oslo in third place and Zurich in fourth. Copenhagen came in at number 10, with the four sixth-place holders taking up four slots.
Various lifestyle essentials in addition to cars, property and even wine, were held responsible for racheting up of household bills, with medical services one of the most important. For example, an apartment in a modern Singapore high-rise is three times as expensive to rent as a similar property in London, even given that city’s rocketing real estate prices.
Medical costs in SIngapore have soared to just below USA levels, and a decent family saloon costs around $88,000, triple its price in the UK. Expat housewives complain that meat is almost unaffordable, with a rack of lamb costing the equivalent of £33, and an average bottle of wine priced at £14, twice the cost of the same wine in the UK.
For mobile expats, cities at the other end of the scale include Mumbai, at the bottom of the list, with Karachi and Delhi on about the same level as Kathmandu, Damascus, Algiers, Panama City and, surprisingly, Bucharest. Another surprise, likely to be contested by expat residents, saw Jeddah and Riyadh in the ‘ten least expensive city’ section.
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