I just saw the updated data on the most expensive cities in the world, and I have to say the results are quite interesting. Switzerland completely dominates: Zurich, Geneva, and Basel occupy the top three spots, followed by Lausanne, Lugano, and Bern. Almost all the Swiss cities I know are in the top 6. Zurich is the most expensive city in the world with an index of 112.5, meaning about 12.5% more costly than New York. Geneva follows at 111.4, and Basel at 110.7.

What strikes me is that New York, historically considered expensive, is only in seventh place with an index of 100 (the reference benchmark). In the United States, there are several costly cities: Honolulu, San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston in the top 20. In Asia, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Hong Kong have fairly high indices, but not as high as Swiss cities.

The data considers housing, food, transportation, utilities, and local purchasing power. To understand: if a city has an index of 112, living there costs 12% more than in New York; if it has 60, it’s 40% cheaper. Interestingly, Norway has several expensive cities (Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger), while Amsterdam and London are more affordable than one might expect.

Switzerland remains the undisputed most expensive country in the world to live in cities, even though salaries there are among the highest globally. Still, for those looking to live economically, it’s better to look elsewhere!