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2013 Singapore Ranked Sixth for Cost of Living

Singapore moved up three places from last year to become the sixth most expensive city in the world to live in, according to a ranking compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey Protected content ranked Singapore the third most expensive city in Asia, behind Japanese cities Osaka and Tokyo. The Japanese capital claimed the top spot, edging out Zurich which fell to seventh place this year.

Hong Kong moved up eight places to become fourth in Asia, but only 14th in the world ranking.

The latest rankings showed that the relative cost of living in Asian hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong has moved higher.

This is largely due to rising wages and growth in the region, as well as the persistent weakness in Europe.

Jon Copestake, editor of the report, said Asian cities have been “rising on the back of wage growth and economic optimism” while most of Europe has seen relative declines due to economic austerity measures and currency fears.

“This means that over half of the 20 most expensive cities now hail from Asia and Australasia,” he added.

Five Australian cities are in the top 20, namely Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. Auckland in New Zealand is down four spots to become the 19th priciest city in the world.

However, Asia also remains host to six of the world’s ten cheapest cities – with Tehran clinching the top spot, followed by Jeddah.

The survey compares the cost of living among Protected content worldwide using New York as a base city.

It analyses Protected content price points for Protected content products and services in Protected content across the world. These included prices of bread, table wine, branded cigarettes and unleaded petrol.

- from BizDaily

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