Move over, Tokyo. Zurich has just claimed the top spot as the world’s most expensive city, thanks to surging currencies pushing up the cost of living in a number of European cities.
While Zurich zoomed to the top spot from fifth last year, while yet another Swiss city – Geneva – claimed the third spot, said a study carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Five Australian cities made it into the top 20, led by Sydney and Melbourne in seventh and eighth places, according to The Worldwide Cost of Living survey.
“Exchange rates have been the greatest influence for the Australian cost of living, with the Australian dollar seeing its value to the US dollar double in a decade,” said Jon Copestake, survey editor .
Vancouver overtook US cities to become the most expensive in North America, ranked 37th in the world. Los Angeles was the most expensive US city — equal 42nd with Shanghai — while New York came in 47th.
Asian cities moved up the ranking, with Singapore gaining one place to 9th spot and Seoul climbing nine places to 27th.
Three of the four cheapest were in the Indian subcontinent: New Delhi and Mumbai in India, and Karachi in Pakistan, which was the cheapest of cities surveyed.
