Here Are the Most (and Least) Expensive Cities in the World
Depending on where you live, this may depress you. UBS’s Prices and Earnings study, published every three years, compares purchasing power in 71 cities around the world. As reported by Bloomberg, UBS ranked which cities are the most and least expensive by figuring out what the typical three-person European family consumes and spends on a regular basis. Zurich, Geneva, and New York City have the highest prices of goods and services in the entire world. Without factoring in rent, a Zurich family has to spend $3,600 a month to survive. But when you factor in rent, NYC becomes the most expensive city on Earth. Luckily for residents of these cities, they also rake in the highest net salaries (factoring in things like taxes and social security).
The cities with the cheapest prices are Bucharest, Sofia, and Kyiv, and that stays the same when you factor in rent. But when it comes to net salaries, the lowest urban earners live in Jakarta, Kyiv, and Nairobi. Workers there make only 5 percent of the gross earnings of a Zurich resident.
UBS’s report also gathered a bunch of fun facts for your next (extremely expensive) cocktail party. The priciest haircuts are in Oslo, Parisians work the shortest hours, and a Big Mac costs three hours of work in Nairobi but just nine minutes of toil in Hong Kong. In the U.S., a Big Mac costs 11 minutes of work, and an iPhone 6 costs 27 hours of labor. That will make you feel guilty about playing Candy Crush.
[H/T: Bloomberg]
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