Most expensive cities in the world are ...
According to Swiss bank UBS, the world's costliest cities are Oslo, Zurich and Tokyo.
The prices of 122 goods and services were compared amongst 72 cities in 58 countries for the survey of the most expensive places in the world, released September 14. See the full report here.
Although Oslo is the most expensive place to live, its residents are not necessarily rich. The city only ranks fourth when it comes to average wages and purchasing power.
Zurich is the highest ranked in consumer purchasing power, followed by Sydney and Luxembourg, which means the net hourly wage in these cities can buy the most goods and services.
“A worker in Zurich can buy an iPhone after working for 22 hours,” UBS reported. “In Manila it takes around 20 times more.”
In contrast, the cities with the lowest cost of living are Delhi and Mumbai.
Workers in these Indian cities receive, on average, six percent of the wages of the average Zurich worker.
Tokyo is the most expensive city for food, followed by Zurich and Geneva. The food items surveyed were not specified, but the basket of 39 products cost US$928 in Tokyo, US$715 in Geneva and US$704 in Zurich.
The same food basket in Mumbai costs US$186.
Major cities missing from the top ranks of the list of expensive cities are New York, at sixth place, and Hong Kong, at 32nd place.
However, this list does not consider the effect of paying rent on the cost of living in these cities.
If rents were calculated as well, then Dubai -- currently at 22nd place -- New York and Hong Kong would move up the list of most expensive cities.
Also on CNN: World's most expensive cities for a hotel room
Top 10 most expensive cities in the world
1. Oslo, Norway
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Tokyo, Japan
4. Geneva, Switzerland
5. Copenhagen, Denmark
6. New York City, United States
7. Luxembourg
8. Stockholm, Sweden
9. Caracas, Venezuela
10. London, England
More on CNN: Best of New York City
