Europe dominates cost of living ranking

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Europe dominates cost of living ranking

The Economist Intelligence Unit's latest worldwide cost of living survey finds that Tokyo, unseated last year as the world's most expensive destination by Oslo, has now also been overtaken by Paris, Copenhagen and London.

Of the ten most expensive cities surveyed, only Tokyo and Osaka hail from outside Europe. Western European cities make up the priciest places in the survey.

Moscow (Russia - 26th) is now more expensive than New York (US - 28th), the most expensive destination outside Europe and Asia.

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Jon Copestake, the survey's editor, said: "The strength of European currencies plays a large part, but prices in Europe are also rising whereas those in Japan have been almost static."

Key survey results

• Latin America presents the best value for money overall, accounting for a quarter of the cheapest 30 cities. Guatemala City (Guatemala - 63rd) has overtaken Mexico City (Mexico - 68th) as the region's most expensive.
• While Asian hubs and Australasian cities remain relatively costly, other cities in the region make up most of the world's cheapest destinations. Hubs like Singapore (14th), Seoul (South Korea - 11th) and Bangkok (Thailand - 92nd) all saw cost of living rises. Jakarta in Indonesia saw its relative cost of living jump 12 percentage points and 27 places in the ranking to 73rd.
• Only two cities from Africa and the Middle East feature in the 50 most expensive destinations: Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire - 44th) and Tel Aviv (Israel - 47th). The South African cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria fell furthest due to a weak rand. Tehran, in Iran, presents the best value for money in the world.

Want to know more?

Title: Worldwide Cost of Living, Economist Intelligence Unit.

Survey methodology: This bi-annual survey compares prices and products in over 130 cities around the world. Its purpose is to provide companies with an “unbiased and independent guide from which allowances can be calculated for executives and their families being sent overseas”. The Economist Intelligence Unit can calculate indices based on any one of the cities. The data quoted here uses New York as a base index of 100 for comparisons.

Availability: The survey is available from the Economist Intelligence Unit, tel: +44 (0)20 7576 8181, or by email at london@eiu.com or online via www.eiu.com/wcol

To read the press release online visit www.eiuresources.com/mediadir/default.asp?PR=1670001967

The Economist Intelligence Unit is the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. Through a global network of over 100 in-house editors and economists, and a global network of over 700 contributors, it assesses and forecasts political, economic and business conditions in more than 200 countries. More details are available at via www.eiu.com