Switzerland (Zurich, Geneva, Bern) again with three of the most expensive cities to live in the world, no surprise.....

But surplus/disposable income goes a long way in these cities. Give me
30% disposable in Zurich than London. Overall, Zurich is a hard act to follow. Geneva just sucks

But not everyone in these cities has "disposable income."

Wow! looking at the prices quoted below it does seem expensive .. well on the cost of a quick lunch.. define quick lunch? a sandwich??? or a lobster and champers??

No. 8 Most Expensive City: Geneva
Quick lunch: $33.70
Beer at a bar: $9.12
Kilogram of rice: $4.70
Dozen eggs: $8.60
Movie theater ticket: $19.20

if its for a sandwich I am in the wrong business!!

iv only bin here 2 weeks with my girlfriend, we havnt really done as regards spending any disposable income because we had to put as it turned out all our money into a german coarse. coming from ireland or the euro zone into a different economic climate i think once we start getting a pay cheque, like the person said above, people who live here have disposable income, it will become all relative, higher wages versus higher costs. but i will admit, so far it is some what intimidating, cool place though, scenery outdoor life and a nice city in zurich!!

I'd rather be poor, bills all paid, in Switzerland. Those mountains are free.

Zurich (6), Geneva (8), and Berne (10) are in the Top 10.
Basel follows on (11) in the Top 30..... crazy..

The ranking is based on the conversion of selected prices into US dollars, so it's strongly biased against countries with currencies that are currently strong against the US dollar. Hence the finding that six of Australia's cities (heck, there are only six cities to speak of in the whole country!) are in the top 30, while there wasn't one in the top 100 two years ago.

In other words, the table is simply a list of places that Americans (and anyone else holding US dollars) would find expensive. The world comprises many people who aren't American. As others have pointed out, a ranking of spending power (earnings vs cost of goods) using the home country's currency for both factors would be much more useful.

Where is Swizetland?

I don't agree with most of their prices

No. 10: Bern, Switzerland
Quick lunch: $28.80 tonight a plate of Thai food CHF 22 + bier 5
Beer at a bar: $7.46 large beer (0.4l) at bar in Bern CHF 7
Kilogram of rice: $4.70 CHF 2.20 Risoto rice Coop@Home
Dozen eggs: $8.40 CHF 8.20 Coop@Home
Movie theater ticket: $19.10 tonight I paid CHF 13 for one ticket at KITAG

Er, yes, but Co-op also has Uncle Ben's rice (an expat favourite) at CHF 4.95. And if you don't turn up to KITAG on a Friday or Saturday night for the Swisscom Carte Bleue night special offer, the cinema is a touch more expensive.

Taking into account the exchange rate, I'd say the prices in USD for Bern are on the low side.

Well, I was going to say what 22Y said.

For example, Buenos Aires might be "cheap" for those with USD/EUR/CHF but it's not cheap for the locals. I've said this before but what % of your income are you spending on those things. That's more important.

So this survey is a "Fail" in my book as it's really only important for those earning/spending/reporting in US$. I ain't gat no dollaz.


Not everyone in ANY city has disposable income.


Near Swaziland I think.

good analysis.....

I thought that only Swiss ate that stuff. Back home Uncle Ben's makes pet food

You are giving them right. The prices you said are the prices in dollars.

I am a Portuguese working here at one month, and after you do not feel that the prices are high due to high salary.

But the problem is what you describe as lunch. In Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany a sand, thai food and a beer is a lunch.

In Portugal, you pay 6 chf and you have starters, soup, main dish (and a main dish is twice the food here) and desert.

So you have to reference as a quick lunch for portuguese, brasilian, spanish and others.

If i bring my parents here and a pizza and a orange juice costs 24 chf (i paid in another day in zurich) for a lunch menu they will go crazy.

You pay 3 chf in Portugal. See what i mean. Is not only the price...is the culture. Pay for water is not normal there. Always free or almost free.

So i understand the studies.

I do not mind seeing cities of modern and fairly wealthy countries on this list, but regard the point that cities like Luanda, Kinshasa, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro appear on the list as embarrassing

The photos chosen are nice, but in case of Bern (nr 10) they took a place from the Berner Oberland (CANTON of Bern yes, but the story is about the CITIES). Already sent them an Email-comment



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For the price they pay in Zurich and Geneva for a "quick lunch", I go eating quite nicely. And the price of 9.12 sounds like a BIG bear. I do not pay more than CHF 6.50 for a "standard beer". Eggs ARE expensive in most places except ALDI and some Turkish stores where you can get NON-Swiss eggs for less than 5.-- per dozen.

And so, I take such lists with appropriate caution. To defend those who establish such lists, the matter is not really easy.

Their WEBsite
http://www.mars.com/global/global-brands/unclebens.aspx
tells a different story

Also confectionary, it is part of the Mars company one of the largest privately owned companies in the world. Never cared for the rice but the bags of chocolates that came around from time to time tasted pretty good

NOT crazy at all. It simply reflects the speculation-based extremely high exchange-rate of the CHF . Rather amazing is that inbound-tourism to exactly these 4 cities has developed quite nicely in the past 18 months, while the less expensive countryside has suffered. The reason is not only "business-tourism" but the fact that city-travellers A) expect things to be expensive and B) are only staying for a few days.

I wonder New York and London are not even on the list