Why living in Oslo, Paris or London is so costly
Mar 7th 2007 | From the print edition
Western Europe is the most expensive place in the world to live, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest annual Worldwide Cost of Living survey. Europe is home to eight of the 10 most expensive cities in the world, and 14 of the top 20. Oslo, which remains in the top spot, is 32% more expensive than New York—the benchmark for all comparisons. Paris, Copenhagen and London have in the last year overtaken Tokyo and Osaka for the next three positions, and most other major EU cities have risen in the rankings over the previous year. The main reason for this has been the relative strength of the euro and sterling against the US dollar and the Yen, although many of the big European cities experienced lower year on year price rises in the EIU-selected basket of goods.
Europe's eastern cities also moved up the ranking, though they remain much cheaper than their western counterparts. Moscow has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive in Eastern Europe, ranking 26th, and moving one place higher than New York, while St Petersburg now shares 44th place with Washington. The cheapest EU capital is Sofia, ranking 111th out of the 132 cities covered, with a cost of living less than half of any of the top four metropolises. The highest-placed new EU member capitals are Prague, at 55th—overtaking Lisbon—followed by Warsaw (63rd) and Budapest (92nd), which experienced the biggest slide, by 15 places, of any European city. This was mirrored by Belgrade's 15 place rise—Europe's highest elevation—putting both places at joint 92nd, at two-thirds of the cost of living of New York. Their changing fortunes reflect major currency movements during the year. As for West European cities, the progress up the ladder was more gradual. The biggest riser was Barcelona, which jumped four places to 31st...
economist.com
That's a bit old, here is some more comprehensive and recent data (but just the data, not text for context)
Cost of Living Index for Country 2014
numbeo.com
From that link
Consumer Price Plus Rent Index
Norway 102.88
Switzerland 104.99
Denmark 78.52
US 57.74
(The scale is New York City = 100)
-------
Europe: Price of Goods in US$, which in US would Cost $1
...
globalpropertyguide.com |
$1.95