Hong Kong, Zurich and Geneva They are the most expensive cities in the world to live in, according to the latest Mercer Cost of Living 2022 annual report, which analyzes the evolution of prices in a basket of more than 200 goods and services in 227 cities on five continents.
And in Latin America, San Juan, in Puerto Rico in position 72 is positioned again as the most expensive locality in the region, having risen 17 positions in the global ranking, followed by Pointe a Pitre in Guadeloupe.
It is followed by Buenos Aires, which occupies the 114th place after climbing 54 positions. “As has been observed, for almost a year the official annual inflation in Argentina has exceeded 50% and it is the most vertiginous rise since June 2019,” says the report.
In the case of Uruguay, Montevideo rose 9 positions in the ranking and is ranked 123.
Santiago in Chile is in position 130. The latter has experienced two of the main components that determine its position on the list, on the one hand, the weakening of the Chilean peso against the dollar and, on the other, the increase in prices of the analyzed basketwhich, although it has generated a drop of 22 steps in the global ranking for the Chilean capital, keeps it within the top 10 of the regional ranking.
The Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo occupy positions 176 and 168 respectively.
The rest of the world
In addition to Hong Kong, also in the Asia-Pacific region, three others fall within the ‘top 10’ of the ranking: Singapore maintains its position at eighth, Tokyo drops four places from fifth to ninth, and Beijing moves up two places to tenth.
As regards Europe, four of its cities are among the 10 most expensive in the world. Zurich ranks second, followed by Geneva, Basel and Bern. All of them in Switzerland. At position 126, the cheapest city in the old continent is Athens. As a result of the shortage of supplies and the increase in energy prices, derived from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the old continent is suffering from levels of inflation not seen in decades.
The most affected countries are the Netherlands and Germany, the main importers of Russian crude oil and gas, which already suffer from inflation of around 9.6% and 7.3% respectively, which has caused cities like Amsterdam to climb ten positions to 25th. o Munich rises seven to 33rd. However, the steepest rises are attributed to the UK, specifically Birmingham, which has climbed sixteen places to 94th, says the report.
middle East
In the Middle East, the podium goes to Tel Aviv, which ranks 6th on the list, followed by Dubai (31) and Abu Dhabi (61). While the Turkish cities Istanbul and Ankara have fallen seven and two places respectively, ranking as the cheapest in the region, as the lira has lost more than 37% in value against the dollar in recent months. However, the price of housing has risen notably in both cities.
