Gulf-News
Dubai, Jun 27: Confirming what many residents have long suspected, a worldwide survey has placed Dubai among the top 25 most expensive cities, jumping almost 50 places from last year.
According to the annual Mercer Human Resource Consulting Cost of Living Survey, the emirate broke into the top-most expensive cities, tying for the 25th spot with Helsinki in Finland.
However, the survey also indicated that Dubai is still cheaper than some less-developed cities including Beijing (14th), Istanbul (15th), and Shanghai (20th). Abu Dhabi was ranked 13th, up from 64 last year; while Beirut was 32.
The survey ranks 144 countries, measuring the comparative cost of more than 200 indicators including housing, food and transportation.
It should be noted though, that the survey reflects the cost of living for people living a "Western-style" lifestyle in the cities ranked.
According to Dubai-based investment advisor, Dr. Khalid Maniar, Dubai's ranking does not come as a surprise. "If the earning potential of the city mirrors the increase in the cost of living, then the new ranking would be fine," he told Gulf News. "However this does not seem to be the case."
Benefits
"There are some who are definitely benefiting from the current climate, but there are segments of society who are obviously facing hardships. The average person's earning potential does not appear to have increased accordingly and this concerns me."
The rise in Dubai's ranking can be attributed primarily to the booming real estate sector, which has
resulted in a knock-on effect for other sectors raising the cost of living, said Dr. Maniar, who also indicated that he expected Dubai's ranking to continue to rise.
"I think it will continue to rise perhaps not at same pace - but in the next couple of years we could see Dubai jump another 10 places up the ranking," said Dr. Maniar.
Others
But, if you think Dubai is expensive, try living in the former Communist capital and world's current most expensive city Moscow. The Russian capital jumped from fourth to first place, outranking Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and London, which rounded out the top five.
Seoul is named as the most expensive city in Asia and London as the second most expensive city in Europe, after Moscow.
Meanwhile, New York (10th) remains the most expensive city in North America, ranking number ten in the world.
Dubai, however, did not make the top-50 in the Mercer survey on quality of living, which named Switzerland as the best place to live. Zurich and Geneva ranked as the top two cities.
Emirate improves position
March '06 City
1 MOSCOW
2 SEOUL
3 TOKYO
4 HONG KONG
5 LONDON
6 OSAKA
7 GENEVA
8 COPENHAGEN
9 ZURICH
10 OSLO
10 NEW YORK CITY
12 ST.PETERSBURG
13 MILAN
14 BEIJING
15 ISTANBUL
15 PARIS
17 SINGAPORE
18 DUBLIN
19 SYDNEY
20 SHANGHAI
21 ROME
21 KIEV
21 VIENNA
24 TEL AVIV
25 HELSINKI
25 DUBAI
27 DOUALA
28 TAIPEI
29 LOS ANGELES
30 ABU DHABI
31 LAGOS
32 BEIRUT
32 HANOI
34 SAO PAULO
34 SAN FRANCISCO
36 STOCKHOLM
37 HO CHI MINH CITY
38 CHICAGO
39 MIAMI
40 RIO DE JANEIRO
41 LUSAKA1
41 AMSTERDAM
43 WHITE PLAINS
44 SHENZHEN
45 ABIDJAN
45 DAKAR
47 TORONTO
48 JAKARTA
48 BRATISLAVA
50 PRAGUE