There Is Absolutely No Way You’ll Guess the World’s Most Expensive City
The old saying “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” may not fit New York anymore.
A new analysis of the world’s most expensive cities leaves out the Big Apple and features a shocker at number one.
The study looked at more than 200 metropolises in five continents and “measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.” Taking all that into account, the priciest place in the world to live is – drum roll, please -- Luanda, Angola.
That sound you’re hearing is crickets because most of you are probably either A) stunned or B) looking at Google maps to try and figure out where the heck that is.
Luanda is the capital city of Angola, which is a country in southern Africa. If you plan on living there, you may want to sell a kidney or two before going. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $6,500, a pair of blue jeans goes for about $200 and a typical meal for one at a fast food joint will set you back 20 bucks. In other words, it’s overpriced.
Amazingly, not one North American city made the top 10, while a pair from Africa did and three cities from Switzerland alone were also represented. It makes you wonder if the researchers ever tried to fill up a tank of gas in Los Angeles or buy a cup of coffee in New York.
10 Most Expensive Cities
1. Luanda, Angola
2. Moscow, Russia
3. Tokyo, Japan
4. N’Djamena, Chad
5. Singapore
6. Hong Kong, China
7. Geneva, Switzerland
8. Zurich, Switzerland
9. Bern, Switzerland
10. Sydney, Australia
[Mercer]