Report: Singapore, NYC ranked most expensive cities to live in

Singapore and New York City are now the most expensive cities to live in, according to a new report.

The “Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) 2022” report, which was released on Wednesday by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), saw Singapore and New York City tie for first place.

Tel Aviv, which was ranked first last year, dropped to third place, while Hong Kong reached fourth place and Los Angeles reached fifth place. Zurich, Geneva, San Francisco and Paris took the respective sixth to ninth spots. Meanwhile, Copenhagen and Sydney tied for 10th place.

The WCOL survey was conducted between Aug. 16 and Sept. 16 and “tracks the prices of over 200 goods and services in 172 cities worldwide.”

The EIU stated in its report that Singapore and New York City reached first place because of “high incomes and a stronger exchange rate.” In last year’s report, Singapore was in second place and New York City was in sixth place.

According to the EIU, cities worldwide experienced rapid price rises for food, household items and utilities such as electricity. EIU Worldwide Cost of Living Head Upasana Dutt commented on the world’s current cost-of-living crisis, saying, “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.”

“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 the 20 years for which we have digital data,” she continued. “We expect prices to start easing over the coming year as supply bottle-necks start to ease and slowing economies weigh on consumer demand.”

Featured Image via Kin Pastor

Share this Article