Three cities at number 1 in the ranking of the most expensive in the world
If in 2018 the conclusions of the Worldwide Cost of Living they left little room for surprise with Singapore becoming strong again in a first position that no one disputed, this 2019 the report throws up results with position dances, changes at the top, the occasional novelty and returns from cities that were difficult to understand if they were not in the TOP 10.
Thus, for the first time in the history of this report that the Economist Intelligence Unit, the analysis and research division of The Economist Group, has been conducting for more than 30 years, **three cities tie for first place. Singapore, Paris and Hong Kong** share the title of the most expensive cities to live in 2019.
Hong Kong
Yes, Paris, the only city in the Eurozone present in the TOP 10, is at the same level as the two Asian metropolises. And it seems that this year the game goes back to walking between Asia and Europe, with the return of two North American cities, ** New York and Los Angeles,** making this region of the world return to the top of a ranking from which it emerged due to the weakness experienced by the dollar.
The rest of proper names? They are divided among newcomers such as Osaka; that of European classics such as Zürich, Geneva and Copenhagen; the ever-present Seoul; and the sole representative from the Middle East, Tel Aviv.
In general terms, the Economist Intelligence Unit report concludes that the average cost of living is being affected by high inflation and the increase in the value of currencies. Still, we can say that the global cost of living, they obtain from making the average of the indices of all the cities studied and using New York as a reference, it has fallen to 69%, compared to 73% in 2018. In fact, this figure is well below the data for five years ago, when the average was 82%, and 10 years ago, when it stood at 89%.
To perform the Worldwide Cost of Living 2019 More than 50,000 prices of more than 160 products and services are analyzed (food, drink, clothing, household and personal care products, house rental, transportation, bills, private school fees, leisure and domestic help) in each of the 130 cities included in the report.
You can check the complete TOP 10 in our gallery.