Dubai ranked 16th most expensive city globally

UBS survey names Oslo, Zurich and Geneva as world's most expensive

By

• Sunil Kumar Singh

Published Thursday, September 16, 2010

Dubai has been ranked the 16th most expensive city in the world. (FILE)

Dubai has been ranked the 16th most expensive city in the world, out of 73 of the world's cities, according to the latest 'Prices and Earnings' study conducted by UBS Wealth Management Research economists that was released on Wednesday.

The study ranks Oslo, Zurich and Geneva as the world's most expensive cities, followed by Tokyo, Copenhagen and New York.

Other cities ranked above Dubai include Stockholm, Toronto, Montreal, London, Singapore, Sydney, Helsinki, Paris, and Vienna.

The cities are ranked relative to the index (price levels excluding rent, where New York = 100). The methodology of the ranking measures the cost of a weighted shopping basket of goods geared to western European consumer habits, containing 122 goods and services.

The lowest prices for a broad basket of goods and services can be found in Mumbai, Manila and Bucharest, the study said.

Further, employees in Zurich, Sydney, Miami and Los Angeles enjoy the most purchasing power from their hourly wages (after taxes), the study said, while Dubai has been ranked at 32nd globally in terms of domestic purchasing power.

Employees in Jakarta, Nairobi and Manila had the lowest purchasing power among the cities surveyed.

The study, which is an update edition of last year, is a comparison of purchasing power around the globe and is published every three years.

For the 2009 edition, a standardised survey was conducted of prices and wages in 73 cities around the world. For this year's update, the price and wage data gathered in early 2009 was adjusted for cumulative inflation (for the period March 2009 to June 2010) and for exchange rate movements recorded in the interim.

Average exchange rates for June and July 2010 were applied to minimise the effect of sharp day-to-day price volatility.