We value your privacy
We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience, serve personalized content, and analyze our traffic. By clicking "Accept All" you accept this and consent that we share this information with third parties and that your data may be processed in the USA. For more information, please read our .
You can adjust your preferences at any time. If you deny, we will use only the essential cookies and unfortunately, you will not receive any personalized content. To deny, .
New York Becomes the Most Expensive City in the World! đ˝
Dear Pirates, we are all dealing with inflation which has been hitting hard throughout the US in recent months. The increase in the cost of living is proving to be a global phenomenon. So much so, that this year's ranking of the most expensive cities in the world published annually by the prestigious weekly political-economic informant The Economist, sees our beloved New York placing first for the first time ever. Tying with Singapore, which traditionally steals the top rank.
In general, the Worldwide Cost of Living by The Economist shows how prices in the world's major cities have increased by 8.1% in local currency in the last 12 months, which is the largest increase we've seen in the last 20 years. Let's see the details and some more information on the ranking below.
New York Becomes the Most Expensive City in the World
We already knew Singapore was expensive: in the last 10 years it has came first 8 times in this annual study by The Economist which covers the cost of living in the world's major cities. But this year it is tied for first place in this ranking (in which it would be better not to excel!), with one of the most loved tourist destinations, New York.
Both cities overtake Tel Aviv, the most expensive city in 2021, which now ranks third.
New York
Singapore (Shared with New York)
Tel Aviv
Hong Kong
Los Angeles
Zurich
Geneva
San Francisco
Paris
Copenhagen
Sydney (Shared with Copenaghen)
And the bottom of the league? The last four positions (among the cities analyzed) are occupied by Tunis, Tehran, Tripoli, and Damascus. Last-placed Damascus has a cost ratio that is about one-tenth of first-placed New York and Singapore.
Hyperinflation
Among the world's major cities, inflation has hit hard over the past year in Istanbul (+86%), Buenos Aires (+64%) and Tehran (+57%), but to "shred" the competition in this ranking there is certainly Caracas: in the Venezuelan capital, prices have more than doubled in one year: +132%!
If this seems like an incredible increase to you, think that in 2019 Caracas led this ranking with a much more incredible increase: +25,504%.
For this reason, The Economist continues to exclude Venezuela from the calculations on the averages for the rest of the planet, to avoid distorting the results with an off-scale value.
Who Goes Up and Who Goes Down?
Among the cities that have climbed the most places in the standings are firmly in the lead Moscow and St. Petersburg, which have gained respectively 88 and 70 positions, largely as a result of the sanctions that hit Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Among the other cities that have gained positions, 6 are American (Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Diego, Portland, Boston).
Among the cities that have instead lost positions and therefore have become relatively cheaper than the others, there is a large part of Europe, above all due to the loss of value of the euro: Stockholm and Luxembourg have lost 38 positions, closely followed by Lyon, Manchester, and Brussels. For similar reasons, Osaka and Tokyo are also among the top ten losers in the rankings.