I just reviewed the 2025 cost of living index, and it's impressive to see how much difference there is between cities. It turns out Zurich tops the list as the most expensive city in the world with 112.5 points, meaning living there costs 12.5% more than in New York. Geneva and Basel are also in the top 3, all Swiss cities. Honestly, Switzerland completely dominates the ranking of the most expensive cities in the world, occupying the top six positions. It's no coincidence; banking, finance, and technology concentrate all the wealth there.

The interesting thing is that New York is used as a reference with 100 points. Anything above that means more expensive, anything below means cheaper. In the United States, besides New York, cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston also appear in the top 25, mainly due to skyrocketing housing prices driven by the tech industry. Honolulu is also quite high on the list, probably because it's an island.

In Asia, Singapore leads with 85.3 points, followed by Tel Aviv and Hong Kong. So if you're looking for the cheapest place to live, it's clearly not in these most expensive cities in the world I just mentioned. Europe dominates the overall ranking, with Norway also well represented. The index considers housing, food, transportation, services, and local purchasing power for each city. Quite useful for understanding why some places are so expensive compared to others.