10th highest cost of living again

Based on UBS Cost of Living Survey for 2011, Singapore again has the 10th highest cost of living in the world (translated: one of the most expensive city in the world). Below shows the top 10 results from that survey:

Rank	City
1	Oslo
2	Zurich
3	Geneva
4	Copenhagen
5	Stockholm
6	Tokyo
7	Sydney
8	Helsinki
9	Toronto
10	Singapore

We improved by 3 ranks compared to previous year if ranked by purchasing power:

Rank	City
1	Zurich
2	Sydney
3	Luxembourg
4	Miami
5	Los Angeles
6	Dublin
7	Geneva
8	New York
9	Chicago
10	Nicosia
11	Montreal
12	Berlin
13	Brussels
14	Helsinki
15	Toronto
16	London
17	Copenhagen
18	Amsterdam
19	Frankfurt
20	Munich
21	Stockholm
22	Lyon
23	Tokyo
24	Vienna
25	Madrid
26	Oslo
27	Milan
28	Paris
29	Barcelona
30	Auckland
31	Lisbon
32	Dubai
33	Taipei
34	Tel Avi
35	Athens
36	Manama
37	Moscow
38	Johannesburg
39	Ljubljana
40	Hong Kong
41	Rome
42	Seoul
43	Tallinn
44	São Paulo
45	Doha
46	Prague
47	Singapore

We have however dropped by 2 ranks compared to previous year if ranked by personal earnings.

Rank	City
1	Zurich
2	Geneva
3	Copenhagen
4	Oslo
5	Sydney
6	Stockholm
7	New York
8	Luxembourg
9	Munich
10	Los Angeles
11	Frankfurt
12	Brussels
13	Helsinki
14	Toronto
15	Montreal
16	Dublin
17	Amsterdam
18	Berlin
19	Tokyo
20	Chicago
21	Miami
22	London
23	Vienna
24	Paris
25	Lyon
26	Milan
27	Nicosia
28	Auckland
29	Madrid
30	Barcelona
31	Rome
32	Lisbon
33	Athens
34	Tel Aviv
35	Ljubljana
36	Seoul
37	Dubai
38	São Paulo
39	Johannesburg
40	Taipei
41	Moscow
42	Singapore

You can see that there is very little change on our personal earnings or purchasing power compared to the previous year. You can take a look at my previous post for the UBS Cost of Living Survey here.

In fact in the Mercer’s 2011 survey, Singapore was the 8th most expensive cities for 2011. We're still the one of the most expensive city in the world, but yet our personal earnings went down. I think it kinda reflects what Singaporeans are feeling in their home country.