Singapore Is The World’s Most Expensive City, LA & NYC In Top 10
New York City and Los Angeles are among the Top 10 most expensive cities in the world, according to a new ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The cities have become expensive as the USD has strengthened Vs the Euro and Japanese Yen. The Yen has lost about 50% of its value in the past 3 years as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) expanded its money supply in an effort to lift the country’s economy out of another recession, while the European Central Bank (ECB) introduced negative interest rates to cheapen its currency.
Singapore took the Top Spot in the ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit for the 3rd year running, followed by Zurich and Hong Kong, according to the report.
The survey compared more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services in each city. The index does not include the cost of shelter, which may explain why San Francisco’s red-hot housing market did not put the California city on the list.
“Even if the cost of living in, say, New York didn’t rise much for New Yorkers over the past 12 months, the survey will show that New York became more expensive because the dollar strengthened, raising prices of goods and services relative to other countries,” the newspaper reported.
New York climbed to #7 on the list from # 22 a year earlier.
Los Angeles was tied for No. 8 on the list, while other American cities included Chicago (21), Minneapolis (24), Washington, D.C. (26), Houston (31) and San Francisco (34). Cleveland and Atlanta were the least expensive with a cost of living of about 33% less than New York.
European cities dominate the list with Zurich, Geneva, Paris and Londong ranking higher than New York.
In USD terms, those cities may get cheaper as the ECB loosens monetary policy.
Thursday, the ECB cut its deposit rate deeper into negative territory and increased monthly asset buys to EUR 80-B from 60-B, greater than estimates for an increase to 70-B Euros.
Most Expensive Cities In The World
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- Zurich
- Geneva
- Paris
- London
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Seoul
- Copenhagen
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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