Though we know prices in NYC aren’t what you’d call friendly, at least there were always cities more expensive than us…that is until now.
According to an annual study by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that was conducted between August 16th and September 16th 2022, NYC tops the ranking as the most expensive city in the world, for the first time ever.
Sure, a previous study from last year showed that NYC had the second highest cost of living in the world, but that bitter pill was still easier to swallow than ranking number one.
EIU’s recent Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) survey shows that NYC has tied with common title holder, Singapore. As a result, last year’s leader, Tel Aviv, has been knocked down to third place.
Moreover, U.S. cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco rank among NYC in the top 10 most expensive in the world. Yet, other cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Diego, Portland and Boston showed some of the greatest jumps in rankings throughout the survey.
Overall, prices were noted to have increased year over year by an average of 8.1% across 150+ major cities worldwide. It’s the highest rate observed in the past two decades of having digital cost-of-living data. Contributors to the spike in prices include perpetual pandemic restrictions and the war on Ukraine.
Among utilities and resources, petrol had the most rapid increase in price by 22% in local-currency terms. Others such as electricity and food also saw a swift increase in cost.
“We expect prices to start easing over the coming year as supply bottle-necks start to ease and slowing economies weigh on consumer demand,” noted Upasana Dutt, Head of Worldwide Cost of Living at EIU.
Get a better look at the survey here.