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Lower prices of a loaf of bread, a pack of 20 cigarettes and a litre of petrol in Indian cities are among items and services that make Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru among the cheapest cities to live in for expat workers, compared to other global cities.
Prices of these three items are much lower than those in the 10 most expensive cities, ‘The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2017’ survey found. Significantly, a bottle of table wine was far cheaper in Indian cities, despite stiff taxes, than it was in Singapore and Seoul.
New Delhi emerged as the most expensive Indian city, but it was ranked 124 among 133 cities across 90 countries. Mumbai and Chennai were jointly ranked at 127 and Bengaluru at 131.
Price of a one-kilo loaf of bread in the four Indian cities were between $0.97 and $1.23 compared to $3.55 in Singapore and $14.82 in Seoul. A pack of 20 cigarettes were priced between $3.29 and $3.94 compared to $14.25 in New York and $9.63 in Singapore. A litre of unleaded petrol costs between $0.94 and $1.03 in Indian cities compared to $1.73 in Hong Kong. However, fuel costs in New York are much lower, $0.61 a litre.
A bottle of table wine was cheapest in Bucharest ($4.57) and priciest in Seoul ($24.54), as per the EIU survey. In comparison, a bottle cost between $10.25 and $23.93.
Global rankingsSingapore retained its title as the most expensive city to live in for the fourth year in a row and Hong Kong remained the second most expensive city, followed by Zurich. Japanese cities Tokyo and Osaka have re-emerged in the list at fourth and fifth position, respectively, due to the sustained strengthening of the Japanese yen.
South Korea’s capital Seoul featured as the sixth most expensive city. New York was the only American city to feature in the list of 10 most expensive cities, with Los Angeles falling off that list. Topping up a grocery basket in Seoul was almost 50% more expensive than in New York, the EIU report stated. Other than Zurich, three European cities featured in that list — Geneva and Paris were jointly ranked at seventh position and Copenhagen at the 10th place. Paris is the only Eurozone city in the list.
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