A woman crosses Muensterbridge over the river Limmat, on an autumnal day in Zurich, Switzerland, 21 November 2023. EPA/MICHAEL BUHOLZER
According to a survey released Thursday by The Economist magazine, Zurich and Singapore are the world's most expensive cities, ahead of New York, despite growing living costs. The British weekly found that prices grew by an average of 7.4 percent in 173 major cities over the last year, a small drop from the record inflation of 8.1 percent in 2022.
"The cost of living crisis is far from over, and price levels remain well above historical trends," said Upasana Dutt, the survey's lead author. "We expect inflation to slow further in 2024," she continued, citing the consequences of central banks raising interest rates to battle growing costs.
A general view of residential properties in Singapore, 22 November 2023. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG
Zurich dethroned New York, which led the list jointly with Singapore last year. As a result of sustained high inflation impacting food and clothes, as well as the euro's strengthening versus the dollar, four of the top ten cities are in Europe. The ranking is done in dollars, and other currencies are converted correspondingly, resulting in greater pricing in the Eurozone as the Euro increases. Geneva is tied for third rank with New York, followed by Hong Kong and Los Angeles. Paris is placed seventh, while Copenhagen and Tel Aviv, which were first in 2021, are ranked eighth. San Francisco rounds off the list.
The Russian cities of Moscow (142nd) and St. Petersburg (147th) had the greatest drops in ranking, indicating the weakening of the currency as a result of harsh sanctions over the Ukraine war. According to the list, Damascus is the cheapest city in the world, followed by Tehran. /BGNES
