Weekly The Economist has released on Wednesday November 18, an investigation report on the cost of living in the world in 2020. This year, Singapore and Osaka are no longer leading the list. From now on, Paris, Zurich and Hong Kong are even, at the head of the world’s most expensive cities.
Many changes are highlighted in the investigation carried out by The Economist. And for good reason, the rise of the euro and Swiss franc, and the impact of the health crisis on the dollar. “The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the US dollar to weaken while western European and north Asian currencies have strengthened against it, which in turn has shifted prices for goods and services" said Upasana Dutt, head of worldwide cost of living at the EIU.
The Economist report also reads “the movement of Paris and Zurich to join Hong Kong at the top spot was spurred on by the rise of the Euro and Swiss Franc against the US dollar”, but Singapore has been dislodged because of the exodus of foreign workers since the current crisis broke out.
Among the movements noticed in the rank, Tehran climbed 27 ranks because of the US sanctions, Los Angeles fell to ninth, New York loses one rank and is sevenths tied with Geneva, and even Osaka “with consumer prices stagnating and the Japanese government subsidizing costs such as public transport”.
