Singapore Is World’s Most Expensive City, Mumbai Is 122nd
Singapore has retained the title of being the most expensive city in the world in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living 2019 index. In a list of 133 cities that are ranked based on the cost of over 160 products and services, India’s Mumbai has been ranked 122nd.
While Paris occupies the second position in the list, Hong Kong has been ranked the third most expensive city to live in the world.
The Worldwide Cost of Living compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs.
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit
While Asia is home to some of the world’s most expensive cities, says the study, it also home to many of the world’s cheapest cities.
“Within Asia, the best value for money has traditionally been offered by South Asian cities, particularly those in India and Pakistan. To an extent this remains true, and Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi and Karachi feature among the 10 cheapest locations surveyed,” the EIU said in a statement.
Of the 10 least expensive cities in the list, three are from India, including New Delhi (123), Chennai (125) and Bengaluru (129).
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit
"India is tipped for rapid economic expansion but, in per-head terms, wage and spending growth will remain low. Income inequality means that low wages are the norm, limiting household spending and creating many tiers of pricing as well as strong competition from a range of retail sources,” says the study.
“This, combined with a cheap and plentiful supply of goods into cities from rural producers with short supply chains as well as government subsidies on some products, has kept prices down, especially by Western standards," it adds.
Caracas (133), Damascus (132) and Tashkent (131) have been ranked the least expensive cities in the world.
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