Singapore is world’s dearest city
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The soaring cost of cars and utilities as well as a strong currency have made Singapore the world’s most expensive city, toppling Tokyo from the top spot, according to a survey yesterday.
Tokyo’s weakening yen saw it slide to sixth, the position previously occupied by Singapore, in the 2014 Worldwide Cost of Living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“Singapore’s rising price prominence has been steady rather than spectacular,” said a report accompanying the survey by the research firm.
It said a 40 percent rise in the Singapore dollar along with “solid price inflation” pushed the country to the top of the twice-yearly survey from 18th a decade ago.
The survey, which examines prices across 160 products and services in 140 cities, is aimed at helping companies calculate allowances for executives being sent overseas.
The report said Singapore’s curbs on car ownership, which include a quota system and high taxes, made it “significantly more expensive than any other location when it comes to running a car.”
A Toyota Corolla Altis costs US$110,000 in Singapore compared to around US$35,000 in neighboring Malaysia.
Transport costs in Singapore are almost three times those in New York, it said.
“In addition, as a city-state with very few natural resources to speak of, Singapore is reliant on other countries for energy and water supplies, making it the third most expensive destination for utility costs,” the report said.
It also noted that Singapore is the priciest place in the world to buy clothes, as malls in its popular Orchard Road retail hub import luxury European brands to “satisfy a wealthy and fashion-conscious consumer base.”
Singapore has one of the world’s highest concentrations of millionaires relative to its 5.4 million population.
Its per capita income of more than US$51,000 in 2012 masks a widening income gap between the richest and poorest.
In Europe, Paris rose six places to become the world’s second most expensive city, a trend the EIU said was indicative of recovering European prices and currencies.
Oslo was the third most expensive city, followed by Zurich in fourth.
“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,” Jon Copestake, the editor of the report, said.
New York, the base city for the survey, was ranked 26th, while Sydney and Melbourne came in at fifth and sixth respectively owing to a strong Australian dollar.
Caracas was tied at sixth with Melbourne, Geneva and Tokyo, but the EIU said the Venezuelan capital’s position was largely due to the imposition of an artificially high official exchange rate.
India’s financial center Mumbai was ranked the world’s least expensive city.
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