The Economist has showed its annual ranking of the most expensive cities to live in

Singapore and Zurich (Switzerland) were recognized as the most expensive cities in the world in 2023. The rating was compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit — an analytical division of the British magazine The Economist.

This is not the first time Singapore tops the list of the most expensive cities. Food, alcohol and clothes in the city will cost a fortune, and the cost of the certificate required to own a car recently exceeded $106 000.

Meanwhile, Zurich jumped up five places compared to last year. Switzerlandʼs largest city is consistently expensive — Zurich took the top spot in 2020 and almost never leaves the top ten most expensive cities in the world.

Last yearʼs winner New York dropped to third place.

The ten most expensive cities in the world to live in in 2023 look like this:

• Zurich and Singapore (on the same level);
• Geneva (Switzerland) and New York (on the same level);
• Hong Kong;
• Los Angeles;
• Paris;
• Tel Aviv and Copenhagen (on the same level);
• San Francisco.

Despite the fact that the cost of living in the capital of Syria, Damascus, has increased by 321%, the city has become the cheapest in the world. Also cheap prices in Tehran (Iran), Tripoli (Libya). Karachi (Pakistan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Tunisia (North Africa), Lusaka (Zambia), Ahmedabad (India), Lagos (Nigeria), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Chennai (India).

Russiaʼs Moscow and St. Petersburg fell the most in the ranking — they dropped 105 positions to 142nd and 74 positions to 147th place, respectively. This happened due to the collapse of the ruble.

To compile the list, the EIU compares more than 400 individual prices for more than 200 products and services in 173 cities. They examine a range of businesses, both large and budget, to understand how much prices have fluctuated over the past year.

• In 2020, Kyiv was included in the top ten cities where the cost of living has fallen the most.