Shanghai is moving up in the world, according to cost survey
Print Edition
SHANGHAI is still Chinese mainland’s most expensive city, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest worldwide cost of living survey.
It takes 11th place, up 13 places from last year in the survey comparing prices of 160 products and services in 133 cities around the world.
These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies, personal care items, home rent, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help, recreation and entertainment.
With an index of 97, Shanghai is cheaper than New York (100) and on par with Tokyo, which was one of the world’s most expensive cities for most of the last two decades.
The findings are not surprising to local residents.
Sun Yun, a woman in her 30s, said the rising cost of buying a home was a clear indicator.
“I began looking for a new apartment last summer, but failed due to a sharp price increase,” she said, “The owners usually wanted an extra 100,000 to 200,000 yuan (US$30,680) more than the original asking price for the apartments I tried to buy.”
Another resident, Zhang Lei, said his transport spending rose when taxi fares increased last year.
Government statistics reflect the survey’s findings.
The cost of a basket of eight consumer goods and services was 2.9 percent higher in February than the same period last year, according to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau. The cost of food, cigarettes and wine increased by 5.1 percent, health care went up 5.7 percent, and housing rose by 4.6 percent over the past year.
In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s survey, Singapore remains the world’s most expensive city, while Hong Kong rose seven places to share the title of second-most expensive city in the world with Zurich.
The other seven cities on the top 10 list are Geneva, Paris, London, New York, Copenhagen, Seoul and Los Angeles.
The report said New York and Los Angeles moved up in the rankings because of the strong US dollar rather than significant local price rises.
Despite the weaker renminbi, Chinese cities moved up by an average of 13 places.
The least expensive city is Lusaka in Zambia.
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