Worldwide Cost of Living 2020: How is Covid-19 affecting the prices of consumer goods?

The new edition of the Worldwide Cost of Living report shows how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the cost of living in about 130 cities around the world since the start of 2020. Just like last year, three cities share the top spot as the world’s most expensive city to live in. Retaining its place at the top of the ranking, Hong Kong is now joined by Paris and Zurich. Both cities have overtaken Singapore and Osaka, which have dropped down to 4th and 5th ranks, respectively.

Alongside an overview of this year’s ranking, the report explores the impact of Covid-19 on consumer goods prices.

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Worldwide Cost of Living 2022

EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2022 explores how commodity prices and currency movements have affected both the most and least expensive cities in the world.

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Cost of living around the world

The EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living is a biannual survey that compares more than 400 individual prices across 138 products and services in 130+ cities worldwide, with the option of creating a customised city list as per client requests.

Which cities have the highest cost of living?

Top 5 most expensive cities	Country	City	WCOL index (New York=100)	Movement
1	Switzerland	Zurich	103	4
1	France	Paris	103	4
1	China	Hong Kong	103	0
4	Singapore	Singapore	102	-3
5	Israel	Tel Aviv	101	2

Top 5 cheapest cities	Country	City	WCOL index (New York=100)	Movement
133	Syria	Damascus	22	0
132	Uzbekistan	Tashkent	29	0
130	Zambia	Lusaka	30	-3
130	Venezuela	Caracas	30	-2
129	Kazakhstan	Almaty	33	2

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Worldwide cost of living service

You pick the place, we help you determine the cost

View the Worldwide Cost of Living brochure to find out more about our city-to-city comparison tool.

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Worldwide Cost of Living

Compare the cost of living in 140 cities globally. Updated biannually, the service provides direct city-to-city comparisons which can be customised according to your needs.

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