The usual suspects are New York and Singapore at number one, a rank due to high incomes and a strong US dollar. Tel Aviv, which topped the list last year, moved to third place, with Los Angeles and Hong Kong tied for fourth.
The 2022 edition compares the cost of living in 172 cities, analyzing the prices of more than 200 goods and services, including rent, utility bills, household goods and groceries. The survey documented an 8.1 percent rise in global inflation over the past year: the highest recorded since the EIU began tracking nearly two decades ago.
Economists look at the global costs of the war in Ukraine as well as the complex effects of ongoing Covid-19 restrictions in China, other impacts of the pandemic, supply chain issues, climate change and inflation itself. Also stated.
Upasana Dutt, who led the survey of life this year and last, said the war in Ukraine is one of two main factors, along with the epidemic.
“What we’re seeing is a disruption in the supply chain and that’s only because of the war,” he said. “If there had been no war, this kind of upheaval would not have appeared. It will be much more limited.”
Dutt said that as pandemic restrictions eased, increased demand for goods offset persistent disruptions in the supply chain, leading to higher inflation levels. Western sanctions on Russia “have exacerbated the impact on the supply of goods everywhere.”
The report documents this effect in other European cities, where efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy have resulted in gas and electricity prices rising by 29 percent in some areas, compared to a global average of 11 percent.
Worldwide, utility bills have risen an average of 11 percent, and car prices have risen an average of 9.5 percent in local currency terms, according to the EIU. According to the report, the highest price increase is for one liter of oil, which has increased by 22% on average.
European cities Luxembourg, Stockholm, Brussels, Lyon, France; and Manchester, England; Five of the 10 cities that fell the most in the rankings this year — the result of weakened economies due to the energy crisis.
In the United States, 22 cities moved up in the rankings after prices rose sharply. Cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, San Diego, and Boston all saw large increases in the cost of living rating — among the 10 largest such increases recorded globally.
While inflation has risen sharply in Istanbul, Buenos Aires and Tehran, the highest inflation rate was recorded in Caracas, Venezuela, where the cost of living rose 132 percent over the past year.
The report expects some relief in 2023, if commodity prices “decline sharply”, unless the war in Ukraine escalates.
