Guessing by the state of my wallet right now, you’d never believe that I was living in one of the 10 cheapest cities in the world. But The Economist’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2019 says it is so and I really can’t argue with its methodology. The magazine has examined the prices of 160 products and services in each city and converted them to US dollars. A subsequently calculated weighted cost-of-living index formed the basis of their rankings.
Singapore, Paris and Hong Kong got rank #1 with the highest cost of living. Three Indian cities were in the bottom 10 (New Delhi #123, Chennai #125 and Bengaluru #129).
According to the report, these 160 items include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs.
10 cheapest cities in the world
- Caracas, Venezuela
- Damascus, Syria
- Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Bengaluru, India
- Karachi, Pakistan
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Chennai, India
- New Delhi, India
11 most expensive cities in the world
- Singapore, Singapore
- Paris, France
- Hong Kong, China
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Osaka, Japan
- Seoul, South Korea
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- New York, USA
- Tel Aviv, Israel
- Los Angeles, USA
But the magazine says being the cheapest might not necessarily be a good thing.
The study explains that while the Indian economy is growing rapidly, the problem of income inequality still persists. Because of low wages, household spending is also low.
“This, combined with a cheap and plentiful supply of goods into cities from rural producers with short supply chains as well as government subsidies on some products, has kept prices down, especially by Western standards.”
Interestingly, the price of one 330 ml beer bottle in Bengaluru is $4.15. This is higher than any of the cities in the Top 10 most expensive list. Go figure!