There are three cities on the podium of the most expensive in the world

Hong Kong, Zurich and Paris are the three most expensive cities in the world, while Damascus ranks last in the global cost of living report published by the British weekly “The Economist”.

This is the second time that three cities share the first place in this study, which takes into account the prices of 138 goods and services in 133 major cities from all over the world.

The prices of this basket of products have risen only about 0.3 points on average in the last year, mainly due to the effect of the covid-19 pandemic, which also meant that main increases were in categories such as tobacco or recreational activities – the latter including electronic products – while the biggest falls occurred in clothing.

In addition to these three sectors, the Intelligence Unit of the British weekly “The Economist” analyzes other parameters, such as the amounts associated with rent, transportation, education, food, drink or household and personal care items.

A complete list of the ten cities where life is more expensive is arranged as follows: Hong Kong (China), Zurich (Switzerland), Paris (France), Singapore, Osaka (Japan), Tel Aviv (Israel), Copenhagen (Denmark), New York (United United States), Geneva (Switzerland) and Los Angeles (United States).

Last year, the “top 3” were formed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Osaka, although in 2020 these last two fell due, in the case of the city-state, to an “exodus of foreign workers” and, in the case of the city economy, stagnation of inflation and subsidies from the Japanese Government for expenses such as public transport.

The city whose prices have evolved the most over the past year is Tehran, which climbed 27 places on the table due to US sanctions, which made it difficult to supply goods to Iran.

Most Chinese cities have risen sharply (on the table) due to the US-China trade war, which has tested supply chain resilience and raised consumer prices.

At the bottom of the table are five cities: in addition to the Syrian capital, Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Lusaka (Zambia), Caracas (Venezuela) and Almaty (Kazakhstan).

Latin America and Africa are the two regions where prices have fallen the most due to the weakness of local currencies and the increase in poverty.

The exchange rate has been a key factor in determining the “ranking” of cities in the study, as the dollar has weakened as currencies in Western Europe and North Asia have strengthened.

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