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Thank your lucky stars that you don’t live in some places around the world. If you think you are having a rough time getting by, finding enough money to make ends meet and you constantly talk over the increase in prices, then think again. You probably don’t live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
According to a new survey that has just been carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) it’s now Singapore that is the most expensive place to live in the world; that’s no saving race for the rest of us that thing that we are also actually living in the most expensive city in the world; It’s always in your own back yard that you are worried about how much things cost, never anywhere else. I wonder if there will ever be a limit to the cost of living or if the sky’s the limit. When do things stop getting more expensive? Even when things went pear-shaped after the financial bubble exploded, things still continued to get more expensive in the scramble to stop going under. We ended up with less money and higher prices.
Even in 2011, just three years after the 2008 financial crisis global food prices for example still remained very high. Despite the fact that they were not quite at the extreme record levels of 2008, they were gradually creeping higher, making the position of some in the global economy even more of a struggle. Lower demand should have, in theory, pushed prices down and a slow recovery should have brought about easier times for those that were already struggling to get by. But, the food-price crisis and the financial explosion of the stock market were very much linked to each other. While the housing bubble was expanding, the emerging economies and those that were dependent in Africa on commodity exports also fuelled the increase in food prices. The ensuing financial crisis meant that food stocks and production dropped dramatically in those commodity-producing countries and as a consequence prices increased. We can’t deal with the financial crisis and food-reform policies as separate entities. Nothing is separate these days, is it?
Where’s the limit to just how expensive things can get then?
The Worldwide Cost of Living Survey for 2014 has just been published and it’s as follows:
• Singapore
• Paris
• Oslo
• Zurich
• Sydney
• Caracas
• Geneva
• Melbourne
• Tokyo
• Copenhagen
The majority of those cities come as no surprise to anyone of us. But, it’s interesting to note that despite the apparent woes of Asia and South America, they are the most present cities in the list. The French have always prided themselves on asking for a lot for a little and they are past masters at conspicuous consumption. The Swiss come as no surprise either in their bank-fuelled world of economics.
But, just a decade ago and Singapore was right down in 18th position. But, now, thanks to utility bills soaring out of control and the strength of the currency they have shot to the top.
Check out and compare how much it costs where you live in comparison with Singapore averages:
• Gas, Water and Electricity could cost an average of S$600 (US$472) per month
• Internet works out to about S$50 (US$39.41) per month.
• Mobile telephone connection will cost you S$100 (US$78.81) a month.
• Sending your kids to an international school will cost S$3, 000 (US$2,364.44) per month.
• Local government school will set you back S$772 (US$608.45) per month.
• Owning and running a car means paying out (before you actually get the car) a tax called the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) which stands at roughly S$57, 009 (US$44931.42).
• An apartment in the city fringe will set you back about S$7, 000 per month (US$5517.02) in rent.
Singapore transport costs work out at something like three times more than in New York City for example. New York is the world’s 26th most-expensive city in the world these days, but it is still used as the base rate for comparison. The Japanese Yen fell by 20% last year and Tokyo was ousted from its number one position. Mumbai is the least expensive city in the world to live in according to the survey. That leaves plenty of room for it to grow, increase in price and rise to the dizzy heights of the Singapore-s and the Paris-es of this world.
Originally posted: Singapore Tops Tokyo [11]
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