New York and Singapore are already the cities with the highest cost of living in the world

macroeconomic phenomena and the crisis global after the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of living in the countries is hitting hard, although in a differential way. This indicator in 172 of the main cities of the world shot up an average of 8.1% since last year, according to a study by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

In particular, this would be the fastest rate in at least 20 years, caused by the war in Ukraine and the continuing Covid-19 restrictions in China, the study stresses.

For these reasons, this year the ranking of the countries with the highest and lowest cost of living moved. The volatility The impact of global phenomena on the pockets of local citizens meant that, today, Tel Aviv is no longer the most expensive city in the world, since that first place now goes to New York in a tie with Singapore.

New York, Singapore and Tel Aviv are currently the three cities with the highest cost of living. The specific reason? In the case of the American city, it is because the currency of his country has been strengthening. The study explains that a stronger currency will tend to move a city up the ranking, since prices are higher when expressed in common international currency. In addition, another factor that has played against the pockets of New Yorkers is inflation in the United States, which in June reached 9.1% per year, the highest increase since 1981, but which has already been slowing down since in October it was at 0.6 percent.

“The combination of these two factors – high income and a stronger exchange rate – has pushed Singapore and New York City to the top of our WCOL rankings for 2022, making them the most expensive cities in the world. A currency stronger inflation and a higher rate of inflation have allowed these two cities to push Tel Aviv (Israel), which came first in the ranking last year, to third place,” the report says.

But according to the report, New York is not the only US city that has risen in the rankings as a result of a stronger dollar. Other US cities, including Atlanta and Boston, account for six of the top ten global movers in the ranking.

Mexico City is also up 33 places, with the peso supported by Mexico’s own interest rate hikes, which are ahead of those of the Fed.

The report also highlighted which are, on the contrary, the cheapest cities. In this list are:

1. Damascus, in Syria
2. Tripoli, in Libya
3. Tehran in Iran
4. Tunis, in Tunis
5. Tashkent, Uzbekistan
6. Karachi in Pakistan