I just saw an interesting ranking of the most expensive cities in the world to live in 2025. It turns out Switzerland practically dominates everything: Zurich, Geneva, and Basel are in the top three spots, with scores of 112.5, 111.4, and 110.7 respectively. Basically, living in these Swiss cities is about 10 to 12% more expensive than in New York, which serves as the benchmark with 100 points.

What’s interesting is how this is distributed globally. In the United States, New York ranks seventh worldwide, followed by Honolulu, San Francisco, and Seattle in the top 25. But if you look at the full ranking of the most expensive cities in the world, you'll see that Europe really dominates. Norway has four cities in the top 25 (Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger), and then there are Copenhagen, London, and Amsterdam.

In Asia, Singapore appears at position 12 with 85.3 points, Tel Aviv at 21 with 81.2, and Hong Kong further down. It’s curious that the most expensive cities in the world are mainly European, especially Swiss. The index considers housing, food, transportation, services, and entertainment. That’s why Zurich is number one: everything there is expensive, although wages are also much higher (7,000 to 9,000 Swiss francs per month).

In conclusion, if you’re looking to live somewhere more affordable, it’s better to avoid these cities. Switzerland, Norway, and the western United States are practically the most expensive places you’ll find in the world today.