Today-Dec 1

Singapore has tied with America’s New York to share the unwanted title of being the most expensive city to live in, the latest Worldwide Cost of Living index showed.

Results of the survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which were released on Thursday (Dec 1), showed that a combination of high incomes and a strong exchange rate propelled both financial hubs to the top of the list. While this is the first time New York has topped the rankings, it is the eighth time for Singapore in the past decade. Last year’s top spot was held by Israel’s Tel Aviv, with Singapore sharing the second position with France’s capital, Paris. New York was ranked sixth.

Top 5 top city rankings are: 1. Singapore, 2. New York, USA, 3. Tel Aviv, Israel, 4. Hong Kong, special administrative region of China, 5. Los Angeles, USA. The bi-annual survey, conducted between Aug 16 and Sept 16 this year, compares more than 400 individual prices across more than 200 products and services in 172 cities.

EIU — the research and analysis division of the Economist Group said that the survey has been designed to enable human resources and finance managers to calculate cost-of-living allowances and build compensation packages for expatriates and business travelers. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in December last year, after the release of EIU’s previous report, that the results “may not reflect the cost of living of Singaporean households.” Last year, MTI said that EIU’s survey findings were compiled by comparing the prices of goods and services across countries and converting them from their domestic currencies to US dollars. “This means that the rankings are sensitive to currency fluctuations. However, currency fluctuations have less impact on the cost of living of Singaporeans who earn their income in Singapore dollars,” MTI said then. Read more at: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/consistently-high-cost-living-singapore-ranked-worlds-most-expensive-city-8th-time-decade-survey-2061111?cid=internal_mcdrecs_02122022_tdy#mdcrecs_s