Thread: The world's most expensive cities:

If I Was A Rich Manc

It has always been an Oasis of cool, but Manchester has now taken a step forward to become one of the world’s most expensive places to live, according to the Economist’s Worldwide Cost of Living survey.

Its transformation has been nothing short of remarkable. The grey underpasses that echoed to the songs of groups like Joy Division have gone, to be replaced by shiny new buildings which cement Manchester’s place as a vibrant, cosmopolitan and distinctly European city.

With trams wending their way through the city centre and waterside café-bars now commonplace, Manchester certainly doesn’t look out of place as it sits sandwiched between Dusseldorf and Barcelona.

The surprising table-topper in the list is Oslo, followed by Paris and then Copenhagen. London comes in at fourth and, along with Manchester in 29th place, the two are the UK’s only representatives in the survey of 132 places.

List in full:

Rank (last year) City COUNTRY Index
1 (1) Oslo Norway 132
2 (4) Paris France 130
3 (6) Copenhagen Denmark 126
4 (7) London UK 125
5 (2) Tokyo Japan 124
6 (4) Osaka Kobe Japan 118
6 (3) Reykjavik Iceland 118
6 (8) Zurich Switzerland 118
9 (12) Frankfurt Germany 116
9 (10) Helsinki Finland 116
11 (13) Seoul South Korea 115
12 (9) Geneva Switzerland 112
12 (11) Vienna Austria 112
14 (16) Milan Italy 108
14 (24) Singapore Singapore 108
16 (14) Hong Kong Hong Kong 107
16 (14) Munich Germany 107
18 (19) Berlin Germany 106
18 (16) Sydney Australia 106
20 (21) Brussels Belgium 104
20 (16) Dublin Ireland 104
20 (n/a) Nouméa New Caledonia 104
20 (21) Stockholm Sweden 104
24 (19) Melbourne Australia 103
25 (24) Lyon France 102
26 (23) Amsterdam Netherlands 101
26 (29) Moscow Russia 101
28 (27) New York US 100
29 (27) Düsseldorf Germany 99
29 (26) Manchester UK 99
31 (35) Barcelona Spain 98
31 (31) Rome Italy 98
33 (35) Madrid Spain 97
34 (32) Hamburg Germany 96
34 (43) Vancouver Canada 96
36 (35) Chicago US 95
36 (40) Luxembourg Luxembourg 95
36 (43) Montreal Canada 95
39 (35) Los Angeles US 94
40 (35) Perth Australia 93
41 (32) Brisbane Australia 92
41 (40) San Francisco US 92
43 (47) Toronto Canada 90
44 (40) Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire 89
44 (52) St Petersburg Russia 89
44 (46) Washington, DC US 89
47 (45) Adelaide Australia 88
47 (48) Houston US 88
47 (52) Tel Aviv Israel 88
50 (29) Auckland New Zealand 87
51 (51) Shanghai China 86
51 (32) Wellington New Zealand 86
53 (48) Istanbul Turkey 85
53 (48) Taipei Taiwan 85
55 (54) Athens Greece 84
55 (54) Miami US 84
55 (54) Minneapolis US 84
55 (58) Prague Czech Rep 84
59 (63) Lagos Nigeria 83
59 (58) Lisbon Portugal 83
61 (58) Detroit US 82
61 (58) Seattle US 82
63 (58) Beijing China 80
63 (63) Boston US 80
63 (67) Guatemala City Guatemala 80
63 (63) Pittsburgh US 80
63 (63) Warsaw Poland 80
68 (67) Dakar Senegal 79
68 (71) Dalian China 79
68 (57) Mexico City Mexico 79
71 (69) Lexington US 78
72 (70) Amman Jordan 77
73 (100) Jakarta Indonesia 76
73 (91) Lusaka Zambia 76
75 (75) Shenzhen China 75
76 (71) Guangzhou China 74
77 (74) Cleveland US 73
77 (75) Honolulu US 73
79 (80) Casablanca Morocco 72
79 (71) Dubai UAE 72
79 (82) Kiev Ukraine 72
79 (87) Rio de Janeiro Brazil 72
79 (87) Sao Paulo Brazil 72
84 (81) Atlanta US 71
85 (82) Abu Dhabi UAE 70
85 (n/a) Suzhou China 70
87 (84) Bogota Columbia 69
88 (87) Doha Qatar 68
88 (95) Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 68
88 (93) Nairobi Kenya 68
88 (84) Santiago Chile 68
92 (107) Bangkok Thailand 67
92 (107) Belgrade Serbia & Montenegro 67
92 (77) Budapest Hungary 67
92 (91) Ho Chi Minh Vietnam 67
96 (84) Bahrain Manama Bahrain 66
96 (95) Bucharest Romania 66
98 (87) Riyadh Saudi Arabia 65
98 (95) Tianjin China 65
100 (77) Johannesburg South Africa 64
100 (77) Pretoria South Africa 64
100 (n/a) Qingdao China 64
103 (106) Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei 63
103 (95) Kuwait City Kuwait 63
103 (93) Muscat Oman 63
106 (104) Hanoi Vietnam 62
106 (100) Montevideo Uruguay 62
106 (100) Quito Ecuador 62
109 (100) Jeddah Saudi Arabia 61
109 (95) Panama City Panama 61
111 (104) Al Khobar Saudi Arabia 60
111 (117) Almaty Kazakhstan 60
111 (107) Lima Peru 60
111 (110) Sofia Bulgaria 60
115 (111) Phnom Penh Cambodia 59
116 (113) Cairo Egypt 58
116 (113) Colombo Sri Lanka 58
118 (112) Caracas Venezuela 57
118 (115) Damascus Syria 57
120 (117) Buenos Aires Argentina 54
120 (117) Tashkent Uzbekistan 54
122 (120) San Jose Costa Rica 53
123 (115) Algiers Algeria 52
124 (124) Asuncion Paraguay 51
125 (121) Dhaka Bangladesh 46
126 (n/a) Kathmandu Nepal 45
126 (122) New Delhi India 45
126 (122) Tripoli Libya 45
129 (126) Karachi Pakistan 44
129 (124) Mumbai India 44
131 (127) Manila Philippines 43
132 (128) Tehran Iran 34

I'm always intrigued by how they calculate these lists. I saw one the other day that had Abu Dhabi ranked above Dubai - something that would amaze anyone living in the UAE.
It turned out that the whole survey was based solely on school fees.


It doesn't surprise me that Oslo is top. All the Scandinavian countries are expensive, right?

I wonder how on earth Lusaka in Zambia can be more expensive to live in than Dubai? Then again, 800 or so Pakistanis and Afghanis living on a work camp in the middle of the desert, of which there are hundreds, would tend to lower the average cost of living in Dubai emirate. Making the stats pretty meaningless, really.

boston is tied with pittsburgh

anyone who has even stepped foot in both towns knows thats absolutely ludicrious. pittsburgh is one of usa's cheapest larger cities, whereas boston has a famous reputation for being one of usa's most expensive.

a 2-bedroom apartment in Pgh is like $400-500...in boston its like $1000...not to mention the cost of goods/services.

istanbul was on the list too, which is also insane. and chicago being more expensive than LA?

but a great thread mate....good food for thought. but from my experiences, this has but a hint of truth to it. cities like tokyo and the like, thats spot on. but pittsburgh aint no boston thats fo' shizzle

Originally Posted by discus2000

I guess this is The Economist's list from their intelligence unit... the calculation is based on a comparison of prices and products, and the 500 Afghans living in a tent somewhere in the city would not influence on its position in the ranking...

No accomodation costs factored in, then? The largest expense of all? Hmm...

^yeah...generally arent cost-of-living surveys based on average income and property values/rents?

the other stuff is considered quality of life stuff, isnt it?

i know in LA for example, food isnt that expensive. you can still get lunch for under $10 most places. and istanbul- if this was based on products- then why its in the top 200 is beyond me. i got a winter coat there- real nice quality- for ten dollars. youd pay $200 Us dollars at least in most european or u.s. cities.

good thread olly...makes ya think....but for data and accuracy

I lived in Oxford in the Uk and it was just as expensive as London. I am surprised that Dublin isn't higher on the list.

Number 71: Lexington US...Lexington as in Lexington, Kentucky?
I can't imagine any place in Ole Kentuck would be ahead of Honolulu.
Gotta be another Lexington, whatya think?

Originally Posted by garo

I lived in Oxford in the Uk and it was just as expensive as London.

I've lived in both those places, and don't agree.
OK Oxford is pricey, but I could just afford the rent for fairly central oxford, and therefore I could get to anywhere I needed to get to on foot or by bicycle.

In contrast, the tube prices in London then were very high twenty years ago. Now they are absolutely scandalous.

That alone made / would make a massive difference to my weekly outgoings.

Looking more into this report, it seems it's aimed at Executive expats, whose accomodation costs are covered by their companies anyway, hence the exclusion of accommodation from the survey.

A different world to the expenses of the average TEFLer.

Originally Posted by Cyrille

I've lived in both those places, and don't agree.
OK Oxford is pricey, but I could just afford the rent for fairly central oxford, and therefore I could get to anywhere I needed to get to on foot or by bicycle.

In contrast, the tube prices in London then were very high twenty years ago. Now they are absolutely scandalous.

That alone made / would make a massive difference to my weekly outgoings.

Looking more into this report, it seems it's aimed at Executive expats, whose accomodation costs are covered by their companies anyway, hence the exclusion of accommodation from the survey.

A different world to the expenses of the average TEFLer.

I lived in Headington and was too lazy to cycle into town so fares probably worked out the same for me.

When it comes down to the basics, we need somewhere to live, ways of getting about and a pint after we've negotiated those two obstacles.

And the UK is bad news. We moan about London prices but I can easily pay 3 pounds 50 for a pint in Manchester. House prices are horrendously high (although that's good newsme) and the fares for public transport are extremely prohibitive.

On the plus side though, we don't have tuk-tuk drivers.