Just came across the latest cost of living rankings and Switzerland is absolutely dominating - six of the top six most expensive cities in the world are all Swiss. Zurich leads at 112.5, followed by Geneva at 111.4 and Basel at 110.7. Everything there costs roughly 12-13% more than New York, which sits at 100 as the baseline.

What's interesting is how the data breaks down by region. You've got the United States scattered throughout with New York (100), San Francisco (90.7), Seattle (86), and Boston (82.7) all making the cut. Honolulu ranks surprisingly high at 94.4, probably because island living always comes with a premium. Then there's Norway showing up multiple times - Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen all in the top 25. In Asia, Singapore's at 85.3, which makes sense for a major financial hub.

The index basically compares housing, food, transport, utilities, and entertainment costs against New York. So if a city scores 112, you're paying about 12% more. If it's 60, you're saving roughly 40%. Pretty straightforward way to see where the most expensive cities in the world actually are.

What surprised me is how much Switzerland dominates the list. Like, six Swiss cities in the top six is wild. Meanwhile, the US has more entries overall but they're more spread out. Europe clearly leads this ranking, with Switzerland, Norway, and the UK all well represented. Makes you think about where you'd actually want to settle if cost of living matters to you.