Tel Aviv in Israel dominated the Global Cost of Living Survey ranking for the very first time, making it the most expensive city in the world to live in.

Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the world

The Israeli city moved up from fifth place last year, pushing Paris to second place along with Singapore. Tel Aviv’s rise mainly reflects the surge in its currency and the rise in prices of about a tenth of the city’s goods, mainly groceries and transportation, in local currency.

Real estate prices (not taken into account in the index calculation) have also increased, especially in residential areas.

The Global Cost of Living Dataset – published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) – enables direct city-to-city cost-of-living comparisons in 173 cities around the world and is updated twice a year.

Research has shown that compared to other cities, Tel Aviv is a particularly expensive place to buy alcohol (second in this category), transportation (also second), personal care items (fifth) and recreation (sixth). It ranks in the top third for the group’s top ten spending categories, with an index score up five points from a year ago.

The ten most expensive cities in the world

1. Tel Aviv, Israel
2. Paris, France
3. Singapore
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Hong Kong
6. New York, New York
7. Geneva, Switzerland
8. Copenhagen, Denmark
9. Los Angeles, California
10. Osaka, Japan

Top Engines from top to bottom in the past 12 months

Rome, Italy saw the biggest drop in the rankings, dropping from 32nd to 48th place, with a particularly sharp drop in its basket and clothing categories.

As was the case in 2020, Tehran, Iran, climbed the most in its rankings, dropping from 79th to 29th. The reimposition of US sanctions on Iran has resulted in a continued shortage of goods and increased import prices.

And South Africa?

As for South Africa, Johannesburg jumped 10 places in this year’s ranking to 104th which makes it one of the “The biggest drivers of the ranking over the last 12 months”.

Expatistan, a cost of living calculator that allows you to compare the cost of living between cities around the world, shows the cost of living at Johannesburg is 49% cheaper than in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, the cost of living at The cap is 53% cheaper than in Tel Aviv.

The cheapest cities in the world

Among the cheapest cities are Damascus, Syria (173rd) and Tripoli, Libya (172nd) which currently face a number of economic and political challenges. Other inexpensive cities include Lusaka, Zambia (164th) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (164th).