I just saw a ranking of the most expensive cities in the world for 2025, and it's quite revealing. It turns out that Zurich, Geneva, and Basel in Switzerland are at the top of the list, but what's interesting is how the cost of living varies so drastically depending on where you settle.

The index uses New York as a reference (100 points), so any city above is more expensive and below is cheaper. Zurich is at 112.5, meaning it's approximately 12.5% more costly than New York. Geneva follows with 111.4 and Basel with 110.7. It's impressive that the six most expensive cities in the world are all Swiss: in addition to the three mentioned, Lausanne, Lugano, and Bern are also on the list. Switzerland clearly dominates when it comes to the most expensive cities worldwide.

In the United States, New York is the most expensive (100 points), but San Francisco (90.7), Seattle (86), and Boston (82.7) also rank quite high due to housing prices and tech demand. Even Los Angeles and San Diego are in the top 25.

What’s curious is that in Asia, only Singapore (85.3), Tel Aviv (81.2), and Hong Kong appear in high positions, quite a bit below the most expensive cities that dominate Europe. Norway also has several cities on the list: Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger.

What catches my attention most is that although these places are extremely expensive, salaries in cities like Zurich are also very high (between 7,000 and 9,000 CHF per month), which helps balance the equation. It’s not the same if it’s expensive and you earn well, right? Anyway, it’s a reminder of how different the cost of living is depending on the region.