Singapore named the world's most expensive city

[emx]

From the BBC.

Singapore has topped 131 cities globally to become the world's most expensive city to live in 2014, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The city's strong currency combined with the high cost of running a car and soaring utility bills contributed to Singapore topping the list.

It is also the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes.

Singapore replaces Tokyo, which topped the list in 2013.

Other cities making up the top five most expensive cities to live in are Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney, with Tokyo falling to sixth place.

The EIU's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey is a relocation tool that uses New York city as a base. It looks at more than 400 individual prices.

Soaring Asia

The top 10 cities this year have been dominated by Asian and Australasian cities as well as some in Europe.

"Improving sentiment in structurally expensive European cities combined with the continued rise of Asian hubs means that these two regions continue to supply most of the world's most expensive cities," said the editor of the report, Jon Copestake.

"But Asian cities also continue to make up many of the world's cheapest, especially in the Indian subcontinent."

Most Asian cities that top the list are there for predominantly higher costs of groceries. Tokyo is still at the top of the list for everyday food items.

Inexpensive India

However, not all Asian cities are tough on the wallet.

India's major cities - including Mumbai and New Delhi - were found to be among the least expensive in the world.

Mumbai's prices are kept low by large income inequality.

The low wages of many of the city's workers keep spending low, and government subsidies have helped them stay that way.

Outside of the subcontinent, Damascus in Syria saw the largest drop, becoming the fourth cheapest city in the world as the country's ongoing conflict has led to plummeting prices.

While the EIU's survey takes into account the cost of living, other firms employ different research methods.

Mercer conducts research to determine the most expensive cities for expatriate living.

It found that in 2013, Luanda, Angola was the hardest on expatriate wallets due to the difficulty of finding adequate secure housing, and the high price of imported goods

[jgl]

EIU is a pretty credible source, but the second sentence kind of discredits the heading. What percentage of Singaporeans even own a car?

I thought that like in HK, car ownership was the exception rather than the norm.

[Watercooler]

EIU is a pretty credible source, but the second sentence kind of discredits the heading. What percentage of Singaporeans even own a car?

I thought that like in HK, car ownership was the exception rather than the norm.

Owning a car is definitely much more expensive in Singapore than Hong Kong (and it is by no means cheap in HK either). Furthermore, even if you have the cash, you just can't buy a car in a straightforward fashion there, you need a "Certificate of Entitlement" to even have the right to buy a car in Singapore. However, I remember I read somewhere that notwithstanding the even greater expense, car ownership as a ratio to population is actually higher in Sinagapore than Hong Kong. I'll check whether that is true now.

Update: Car ownership rate is indeed higher in Singapore:

http://www.lta.gov.sg/content/dam/lt...Brief_2012.pdf

Surprising at first glance (since it's pricier to own a car in Singapore than HK), but perhaps not on second thought. Singapore has a higher per capita GDP than HK. And even if you argue per capita GDP does not reflect the true distribution of income, you must also factor in the expat factor. The number of expats (and rich ones at that) is alot higher in Singapore than Hong Kong, so that might account for the increase in car ownership there.

[jgl]

Ah, I had not realised that the EIU survey was for expat cost of living. Makes much more sense now.

Watercooler: Interesting stats. I would have actually guessed along those car ownership lines- higher than HK because I think that SG is both wealthier than HK and that it's public transport is not as developed as HK. HK public transport is nothing short of amazing compared to anywhere else.

In the wider scheme of things, 9-10 cars per hundred people is still pretty low if compared to the States/Oz/Europe. IMO a city like Sydney is close to unlivable without a car and I'd expect ownership rates to be far over 50 per hundred people. And it'd be even more skewed in almost any US city. I'm surprised at how high New York is... unless they are counting the five boroughs instead of just Manhattan. I suspect Manhattan would be close to HK (very effective train system, walking is even easier than HK).

Singapore would be close to idea for a city built around commuting by bicycle (short distances, flat) if it were not sweltering hot the whole year round.

[pin]

Bet you HK government is pissed they didn't come first in a survey.

I am sure they are now finding ways to make sure that HK comes top in the next EIU or whatever its called survey.

[Watercooler]

Ah, I had not realised that the EIU survey was for expat cost of living. Makes much more sense now.

Watercooler: Interesting stats. I would have actually guessed along those car ownership lines- higher than HK because I think that SG is both wealthier than HK and that it's public transport is not as developed as HK. HK public transport is nothing short of amazing compared to anywhere else.

In the wider scheme of things, 9-10 cars per hundred people is still pretty low if compared to the States/Oz/Europe. IMO a city like Sydney is close to unlivable without a car and I'd expect ownership rates to be far over 50 per hundred people. And it'd be even more skewed in almost any US city. I'm surprised at how high New York is... unless they are counting the five boroughs instead of just Manhattan. I suspect Manhattan would be close to HK (very effective train system, walking is even easier than HK).

Singapore would be close to idea for a city built around commuting by bicycle (short distances, flat) if it were not sweltering hot the whole year round.

Agreed. If it weren't for the hot and humid climate year-round, Singapore would have been a nicer place to live than Hong Kong, with more laid-back and friendlier locals. But in Hong Kong you get relief from the heat for at least a third to half the year.

Of course there are also the subjective issues. Hong Kong is bigger than Singapore with more things to do in this town. And while Singapore no doubt has better urban landscaping and greenery than the concrete jungle of Hong Kong, Singapore can be a little boring after a while, whereas Hong Kong always have this grittiness and edge to it which makes the city more "real". lf you live in Singapore too long, you get the feeling you are living in a sort of "disneyland".

[anilmohan]

The EIU survey doesn't include housing, if it did, HK would probably top

[LuisHK]

Another study came out a few days ago and Paris came first. Go figure...
Anyway housing in Singapore is noticeably cheaper than in HK. Paris is also much cheaper.
It seems housing in HK would be over half the expense of an expat family , so if it's not included it discredits the study quite a bit.