According to the recently published Worldwide Cost of Living survey, Singapore and Zurich have been identified as the most expensive cities in the world this year.

The survey revealed that Singapore, for the ninth time in the past 11 years, retained its status as the most costly city in the world. The city-state boasts the highest transportation costs globally and is also among the most expensive for clothing, groceries, and alcohol.

Due to higher costs of food, household items, and recreational activities, as well as the strong Swiss franc, Zurich advanced from sixth position to jointly rank with Singapore. New York City fell to third place, sharing the position with Geneva, while Hong Kong secured the fifth spot.

Rounding out the top ten were Paris, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tel Aviv. The survey was conducted prior to last month’s escalation of Israeli anti-terrorism operation in Gaza, the report notes.

Paris, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tel Aviv completed the top ten list. It is worth mentioning that the survey was conducted before the recent escalation of Israeli anti-terrorism operation targeting Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

According to the survey, persistently high inflation, particularly in groceries and clothing, led to Western Europe having four of the top ten most expensive cities.

Prices of over 200 goods and services in 173 major global cities were examined in the survey. The researchers discovered an average increase of 7.4% in prices across all categories in local currency compared to the previous year. Although this was lower than the 8.1% surge recorded last year, it was considerably higher than the growth observed in the previous five years. Notably, utility prices experienced the slowest growth rate in most cities over the past year, while grocery prices demonstrated the most substantial gains.