Tel Aviv is the world's most expensive city to live in, a new report shows, the Israeli city sitting ahead of other urban centres such as Paris, Singapore, Zurich, Hong Kong and New York.
According to the latest Worldwide Cost of Living report released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a soaring currency, rising house prices and costly goods caused Tel Aviv to move from fifth-most expensive last year, to most expensive in 2021.
Although property prices in the city weren't included in the report index calculation, they had also risen - particularly in residential areas.
The report compares prices of over 200 goods and services in 173 major cities across the globe.
Auckland is the 27th most expensive city, having moved up 11 places from 2020, the report shows. It's in line with the cities of Minneapolis (US) and Edinburgh (UK).
The top 10 most expensive cities in 2021:
- Tel Aviv (Israel).
- Paris (France).
- Singapore.
- Zurich (Switzerland).
- Hong Kong (China).
- New York (United States of America).
- Geneva (Switzerland).
- Copenhagen (Denmark).
- Los Angeles (United States of America).
- Osaka (Japan).
Source: Worldwide Cost of Living Report 2021.
The city with the biggest drop in ranking was Rome, falling from 32nd place to 48th place. This was due to a fall in its shopping basket and clothing categories.
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Tehran jumped from 79th place to 29th most expensive, due to ongoing shortages of goods and rising import prices brought about by US sanctions on Iran.
The cheapest city is Damascus (Syria), coming in at 173rd place. Also within the five cheapest cities of the world are Tripoli (Libya), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Tunis (Tunisia) and Almaty (Kazakhstan).
The shifts in rankings reflect conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which have increased the cost of living across major cities.
"Although most economies are now recovering as COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out, the world’s major cities still experience frequent surges in cases, prompting renewed social restrictions," the report said.
"In many cities this has disrupted the supply of goods, leading to shortages and higher prices."
Supply chain issues, exchange rate shifts and changes in consumer demand, have led to price rises for commodities and other goods. Prices tracked by the report rose 3.5 percent year-on-year in 2021 (in local currency terms), up from 1.9 percent in 2020 and 2.8 percent in 2019, it said.
Transport costs had the most rapid increase, the report index shows, with the price of 1L of petrol up by an average of 21 percent.
Hong Kong is the most expensive city for petrol, the report showing the average price per litre in 2021 is US$2.50 (NZ$3.67).
