Price rises are slowing, but not enough
EIU’s latest Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) survey, conducted between August 14th and September 11th 2023, shows that prices rose by an average of 7.4% in local-currency terms over the past year in the world’s major cities. This is slightly slower than the 8.1% price growth recorded last year, as supply-chain disruptions have eased and interest rates have risen, but remains significantly above the trend in 2017-21.
Singapore kept its position as the world’s most expensive city this year, for the ninth time in 11 years. It ranks jointly with Zurich (Switzerland), which is back at the top after three years.
New York (US), which came joint first last year, moved down to third position, tying with Geneva (Switzerland). The world’s cheapest city is still Damascus (Syria).
Of the ten categories in our price index, utility prices rose the most slowly over the past year, reflecting the waning impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Grocery prices, however, continue to rise strongly.
Western Europe accounts for four of the top ten most expensive cities in our list. Sticky inflation in groceries, clothing and personal care along with appreciation of the euro and other local currencies in the region have led them to rise up the rankings.
The Mexican cities of Santiago de Querétaro and Aguascalientes were the biggest movers up the rankings as the peso strengthened against the US dollar on the back of interest-rate rises and strong inward investment.
Chinese cities have fallen in the rankings, with four cities on our list of biggest movers down, amid slow economic recovery after the pandemic, subdued consumer demand and depreciation of the currency. The Russian cities of Moscow and St Petersburg experienced the biggest drop in the rankings as sanctions weakened the rouble.
The highest WCOL inflation is in Caracas (Venezuela), where prices have risen by 450% since last year. We continue to exclude the city from our global inflation average to avoid skewing the calculations.
Unlike in 2022, this year’s survey included Kyiv (Ukraine). The city is now ranked 132nd, having moved down the rankings since the 2021 edition, when it was ranked 118th. However, it is not part of our average inflation calculation.
Price rises are slowing, but not enough
EIU’s latest Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) survey, conducted between August 14th and September 11th 2023, shows that prices rose by an average of 7.4% in local-currency terms over the past year in the world’s major cities. This is slightly slower than the 8.1% price growth recorded last year, as supply-chain disruptions have eased and interest rates have risen, but remains significantly above the trend in 2017-21.
Singapore kept its position as the world’s most expensive city this year, for the ninth time in 11 years. It ranks jointly with Zurich (Switzerland), which is back at the top after three years.
New York (US), which came joint first last year, moved down to third position, tying with Geneva (Switzerland). The world’s cheapest city is still Damascus (Syria).
Of the ten categories in our price index, utility prices rose the most slowly over the past year, reflecting the waning impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Grocery prices, however, continue to rise strongly.
Western Europe accounts for four of the top ten most expensive cities in our list. Sticky inflation in groceries, clothing and personal care along with appreciation of the euro and other local currencies in the region have led them to rise up the rankings.
The Mexican cities of Santiago de Querétaro and Aguascalientes were the biggest movers up the rankings as the peso strengthened against the US dollar on the back of interest-rate rises and strong inward investment.
Chinese cities have fallen in the rankings, with four cities on our list of biggest movers down, amid slow economic recovery after the pandemic, subdued consumer demand and depreciation of the currency. The Russian cities of Moscow and St Petersburg experienced the biggest drop in the rankings as sanctions weakened the rouble.
The highest WCOL inflation is in Caracas (Venezuela), where prices have risen by 450% since last year. We continue to exclude the city from our global inflation average to avoid skewing the calculations.
Unlike in 2022, this year’s survey included Kyiv (Ukraine). The city is now ranked 132nd, having moved down the rankings since the 2021 edition, when it was ranked 118th. However, it is not part of our average inflation calculation.
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