Karachi among top 10 cheapest cities of world

DUBAI: Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong are the world’s most expensive cities for travellers to visit and expatriates to live in, according to a new survey of more than 100 cities around the world.

The Worldwide Cost of Living 2019 report of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), released on Tuesday, has ranked 133 countries according to the prices of consumer goods and services. The three cities, appearing for the first time in the same spot, emerged as the costliest, while Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Karachi were named among the ten cheapest places in the world, with Caracas in Venezuela taking the lead in the bottom ten.

The French capital has catapulted to the top spot from being the seventh most expensive city to live in two years ago, while Singapore is the only city in the top ten that has maintained its ranking from the previous year.

According to the report, it costs a lot more to buy a loaf of bread in Paris than in many other cities, with the same item setting back a consumer $5.66 (D20) per kilo, compared to just $1.08 in Chennai or $1.46 in Karachi, some of the cheapest cities to live in.

Haircut prices for women in the French capital average $119.04 (Dh437), compared to $10.46 in Chennai and $29.40 in Karachi. For men’s two-piece business suit, the average buyer can expect to spend a whopping $2,000.65 (Dh7,300), which is way above anyone would pay at a tailoring shop or boutique in Chennai and Karachi, at just $173.91 and $515.51, respectively.

The report also noted that cities in Asia tend to be the most expensive places for general grocery shopping, while those in Europe tend to have the highest costs in the household, personal care, recreation and entertainment categories – with Zurich and Geneva the most expensive in these categories.