The Southeast Asian city-state was ranked the most expensive city in the world for the fifth year in a row. According to the EIU, it’s “the most expensive place in the world to buy and run a car and the third-priciest destination in which to buy clothes.”
The City of Lights is the only euro-area in the top 10. Compared to other European cities, its alcohol, transportation, and tobacco are the only things that are priced competitively, the EIU says.
Related article: The 10 Most Instagrammed Cities In The World
Zurich and Geneva are the most expensive European cities in the categories of household, personal care, recreation, and entertainment, “perhaps reflecting a greater premium on discretionary spending,” the EIU found.
The findings show that Asian cities tend to be the most expensive locations for “general grocery shopping.”
If the cost of a pint of beer were the sole indication of the cost of living, Oslo would be at the top of the list. A 2017 Deutsche Bank study found that the price of a pint in the Norwegian capital ($9.90) is higher than anywhere else.
Geneva is both the second-populous Swiss city and the second most expensive.
Related article: The Best Luxury Airbnb Rentals Around The World
Seoul was the only city besides Singapore to retain its ranking from the previous year. Groceries cost almost 50 percent more than in New York City.
The Danish capital owes its spot on the list to its relatively high transportation, recreation, and personal care costs.
Ranked the 34th most expensive city five years ago, Tel Aviv has jumped up the list in part because of the high costs associated with car ownership, which the EIU says “push transport costs 79 percent above New York prices. Tel Aviv is also the second most expensive city in the survey in which to buy alcohol.” (New York, by the way, came in at number 13 “with the dollar weakening against other currencies,” EIU analyst Roxana Slavcheva said).
Australia’s most populous city hopped four spots up the list from last year, propelling it into the top 10.