Chinese cities are moving up in the rankings of the world’s most expensive cities, a reflection of higher wages, rising inflation and the appreciation of the yuan.
Shanghai rose nine spots to rank No. 21 overall on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual “The Worldwide Cost of Living” survey. Its score of 101 means it’s now 1% more expensive than New York.
Published every March to the public, the study tracks the prices of a basket of goods and services, such food, transport, utilities, alcohol, tobacco, private schools and domestic help as they were in September of the previous year. It then compares them across 131 cities around the world to form an index. The baseline of the index is New York, which has a score of 100. The survey doesn’t take into account the price of real estate or income taxes, but it does factor in consumption taxes such as sales tax and levies on alcohol and tobacco.
