The World’s Most Expensive City Has Been Named
Singapore has been named the world’s most expensive city to live in for the third consecutive year, thanks to the Economist Intelligence Unit‘s 2016 Worldwide Cost of Living survey. The twice-yearly survey ranks 133 worldwide cities across things like food and drink, clothing, rent, transport and schooling – for Singapore, the city’s high cost of transportation has secured its place on top of the list.
Thanks to the city’s complex Certificate of Entitlement system, Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to buy and run a car. Transport costs are a whopping 2.7 times higher than New York, and it’s also an expensive city to buy clothes and pay for utilities.
While this may seem like a massive deterrent for tourists, there are still ways to enjoy Singapore on the cheap – you just have to be smart about it. Ditch the expensive restaurants and head to a hawker centre for food, drink and a whole lot of charm. Keep it simple and ride the MRT train network across the city – it’a a cheap, reliable and easy way to get around.
RELATED: HOW TO DO SINGAPORE ON A BUDGET
The EIU did note the gap was narrowing between Singapore and its second ranked competitors, Zurich and Hong Kong, with the latter climbing seven places over the last 12 months. Check out the rest of the top ten below.
#1 Singapore
#2 Zurich, Switzerland
#2 Hong Kong
#4 Geneva, Switzerland
#5 Paris, France
#6 London, England
#7 New York, USA
#8 Copenhagen, Denmark
#8 Seoul, South Korea
#10 Los Angeles, USA
Curious about how our capital cities did? Well, thanks in most part to a weakened Aussie dollar, London, New York and Los Angles have moved up the ranking to 6th, 7th and 8th place, respectively, replacing Sydney, Melbourne and Oslo from last year’s list.
Sydney now ranks as the 20th most expensive city in the world, followed closely by Melbourne at 21st. While travelling (or living) in the perennially exey Sydney can drain your budget in (what feels like) record time, there are a few ways to maximise your experiences and your budget to get the most out of Australia’s most expensive city – you just need a little push in the right direction.
