Singapore is now ranked as the most expensive city in the world,
according to new research published today by The Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU) in its Worldwide Cost of Living survey.
Price
rises and a stronger currency mean that Singapore now has the "dubious"
claim to the title of the world's most expensive city, according to the
EIU report that compares the cost of living between 131 cities worldwide
using New York as a base city.
Over the last decade a 40 percent
currency appreciation, coupled with solid price inflation, has
consistently pushed Singapore up the ranking.
The city also has some
structurally expensive items that skew the overall cost of living
upwards.
For example, car costs have very high related certificate of
entitlement fees attached to them, which makes Singapore significantly
more expensive than any other location when it comes to running a car.
As a result, transport costs in Singapore are almost three times higher
than in New York.
"Singapore's rise is partially attributable to
the continued strength of the Singapore dollar, but the city has seen
price rises too which have no doubt been compounded by a reliance on
imports," said Jon Copestake, Editor of the report which looks at over
400 individual prices.
As a city-state with very few natural resources to speak of Singapore
is reliant on other countries for energy and water supplies, making it
the third most expensive destination for utility costs. The
proliferation of expensive malls and boutiques on Orchard Road also make
Singapore the priciest place in the world in which to buy clothes.
- Singapore's rise comes at the expense of Tokyo, traditionally the world's most expensive city, which has seen a slide in the valuation of the Yen, despite a return to inflation. The Japanese capital fell to joint 6th most expensive.
- As well as Singapore and Tokyo, currency appreciation has cemented the position of Sydney (5th) and Melbourne (6th) in a top ten that is dominated by European and Asian/Australasian cities.
- Hong Kong is the 5th priciest city in Asia and 13th in the world.
Mumbai in India offers the best value for money and is
joined among the cheapest locations by South Asian cities such as New
Delhi, Karachi in Pakistan and Kathmandu in Nepal. Economic instability
relating to the civil war and the collapse of the Syrian pound has
placed Damascus among the world's cheapest cities, although local price
inflation will have been impacted by supply issues.
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