I just reviewed a recent ranking of the most expensive cities in the world to live in 2025, and frankly, the results are quite surprising. Zurich tops the list with an index of 112.5, meaning living there costs approximately 12.5% more than in New York. Coming next are Geneva with 111.4 and Basel with 110.7. Basically, Switzerland completely dominates the top 6 most expensive cities on the planet.

The interesting part is that New York, which many consider as the benchmark for an expensive city, barely ranks seventh with an index of 100 (which is precisely its reference point). In the United States, Honolulu, San Francisco, and Seattle also have very high living costs, mainly due to real estate prices. But compared to the Swiss cities, even these American cities fall below.

In Asia, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Hong Kong lead, although their indices are lower than the European ones. The ranking is calculated by comparing housing prices, food, transportation, and local services. If a city scores 112, it means everything costs about 12% more than in New York; if it scores 60, then it is 40% cheaper.

The curious thing is that although these Swiss cities are incredibly expensive, salaries there are also among the highest in the world, ranging between 7,000 and 9,000 Swiss francs per month. That helps people to live there, even if it’s a considerable luxury. So next time someone asks what the most expensive city in the world is, you already know the answer is Zurich.