I just reviewed a ranking of the most expensive cities in the world for 2025, and honestly, Switzerland completely dominates. Zurich, Geneva, and Basel occupy the top three spots, and I’m not surprised at all. Zurich has an index of 112.5, meaning living there costs 12.5% more than in New York, which is the baseline reference with 100 points.

What’s interesting is that Switzerland has the six most expensive cities in the top 6 of the global ranking. Besides the three I mentioned, there are Lausanne (110.5), Lugano (108.4), and Bern (103.4). That is, any major city in Switzerland is practically one of the most expensive cities in the world. Salaries there range between 7,000 and 9,000 Swiss francs per month, so at least people earn well enough to compensate.

There are also several expensive cities in the United States. New York is seventh globally with 100 points, Honolulu (94.4), San Francisco (90.7), and Seattle (86) are quite high. It makes sense given housing prices and tech demand. But compared to Switzerland, it’s still cheaper.

Asia is represented by Singapore (85.3), Tel Aviv (81.2), and Hong Kong further down the list. Norway also appears multiple times with cities like Oslo (84.3) and Bergen (81.4). The ranking is calculated by comparing housing, food, transportation, services, and local purchasing power prices against New York as a reference.

The conclusion is clear: if you’re looking for the most expensive city in the world to live in, Switzerland is your destination. Zurich specifically is number one, although it’s also an important center for finance and technology, so the costs reflect that. It’s interesting to see how Europe leads this ranking of the most expensive cities in the world, while most of Asia and Latin America are quite a bit further behind.