I just reviewed a recent ranking of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, and the data is quite interesting. It turns out Zurich tops the list with 112.5 points, followed by Geneva and Basel, all in Switzerland. Basically, if you want to know where it's most expensive to live globally, the answer is clear: the top half of the ranking is practically Swiss.

What caught my attention is that New York, which many consider the most expensive city, only scores around 100 points and ranks seventh. This means living in Zurich is approximately 12.5% more expensive than in New York. In comparison, cities like San Francisco (90.7) and Seattle (86) are quite a bit behind, though still very costly.

In the United States, besides New York, Honolulu stands out with 94.4 points, probably because it's an island. Then come San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston, all driven by the tech sector. Even Los Angeles and San Diego make the top 25 with 76.3 points each.

In Asia, Singapore leads with 85.3, followed by Tel Aviv with 81.2, and Hong Kong further down. But nothing compares to what's happening in Switzerland. Six of the six most expensive cities are Swiss, which says a lot about the standard of living and salaries there, which reach between 7,000 and 9,000 Swiss francs per month.

The ranking uses New York as a reference (100 points), so any city above is more expensive and any below is cheaper. If a city scores 112, it's 12% more expensive than New York; if it scores 60, it's 40% cheaper. Quite useful for understanding where it's really expensive to live in the world.