LONDON - Asia is home to some of the world’s most expensive cities and also some of cheapest, according to the latest Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, a twice-yearly tally by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
No other region in the world is as diverse as Asia as its regimes range from autocratic to democratic. Some Asian countries have populations that are among the world’s oldest, but in others they are relatively young. To such contrasts, add differences in affordability.
At the top end of the index is Singapore, which was the world’s joint most expensive city in 2022, along with New York.
Singapore emerged as the most expensive city in the Asia-Pacific region for private homes, with the median price of private homes in the city-state reaching $1.2 million in 2022, a new report said.
Earlier, Hong Kong used to be the costliest, with a median price for homes at $1.16 million, according to the report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
India’s housing price is relatively inexpensive compared to the median household income, over that in other developing countries, the report said.
At the other end, five of the 12 least expensive cities in the world are in South Asia. Indeed, living costs in Karachi are about a third of those in Singapore—although it is also Asia’s hardest place to live.
Everybody is feeling the pinch. Prices in big cities around the world have risen by an average of 8.1% in local-currency terms over the past year.
Energy prices have rocketed by 29% on average in western Europe and 11% globally since last year, exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
The cost of food is up, too. Both countries are important producers of cereals, oilseed and fertiliser, and global food prices are now increasing at their fastest rate this century. The impact of China’s covid-19 restrictions on global supply chains is another factor, although frustration among the population is growing. Overall the survey, which compares the prices of more than 200 products and services in over 170 cities, finds that the cost of living is rising at its fastest rate for at least 20 years.
