In some countries around theworld, the cost of living is very high, especially in areas that are aroundlarge cities. For example, US cities such as New York and SanFrancisco have a very high cost of living.
Occupyingthe other end of this spectrum are nations with a very low cost of living. Thisis one of the reasons several persons are seeking to relocate to the countries.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris, and 7 others — according to the 2019 annual cost of living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) — have been rated the 10 most expensive cities in the world to visit and live in.
Cheapest Cities in the World
The survey, which is entitled “Worldwide Cost of Living,” ranked 133 countries on thebasis of the costs of more than 150 items consumer items, including food,drink, transport, utility, bills, and others.
Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, claims the title of the world’s least expensive city, replacing Damascus in Syria. Here are the 10 cheapest cities globally:
CARACAS (Venezuela)
Rank:133
Rankmovement: -1
DAMASCUS (Syria)
Rank:132
Rankmovement: 1
TASHKENT (Uzbekistan)
Rank:131
Rankmovement: -19
ALMATY (Kazakhstan)
Rank:130
Rankmovement: 1
BANGALORE (India)
Rank:129
Rankmovement: 0
KARACHI (Pakistan)
Rank:127
Rankmovement: 0
LAGOS (Nigeria)
Rank:127
Rankmovement: 3
BUENOS AIRES (Argentina)
Rank:125
Rankmovement: -48
CHENNAI (India)
Rank:125
Rankmovement: 1
NEW DELHI (India)
Rank:123
Rankmovement: 1
“Following inflation nearing 1,000,000per cent last year and the Venezuelan government launching a new currency, thesituation continues to change almost daily. The new currency value has variedso much since its creation and the economy was demonetised compelling people touse commodities and exchange services and personal items like clothing, autoparts and jewellery to purchase basic goods such as groceries,” the EIU report explained.
Inaddition to Damascus and Caracas, in the 2018 survey, the Economist Intelligence Unit also rated Almaty,Lagos, Bangalore, Karachi, Chennai among the top 10 cheapest cities in theworld.
In the 2017 report, among the top 10 most affordable citiesglobally listed, four came fromIndia: Kolkata (3rd), Chennai (6th), Mumbai (7th)as well as New Delhi (9th).
Coming down to Africa, Lagos — Nigeria’s commercial city — isranked 7th among the world’s 10 cheapest cities in 2019. Last year, Lagos alsomade the top 10, joining fellow African city Algiers (Algeria).
Lagos sits at the 127th spot in the current survey.However, in 2017, it was rated by estate agent Savills as the mostexpensive city in Africa to live and work in.
The EIU survey is carried out to help companies determine compensation packages & allowances for expat employees as well as business travellers.
It equally tracks rise or fall in prices,taking the cost of living in New York as a benchmark.
Tracking Changes in the 2019 Ranking
While Asia has some of the most expensive cities in the world, it is equally home to many of the world’s cheapest cities. In this region, South Asian locations have traditionally provided the best value for money, especially those in India and neighbouring Pakistan.
This notion is veracious tosome extent, and among the 10 cheapest locations surveyed are Bangalore,Chennai, New Delhi, and Karachi.
Though India is regarded asprimed for rapid economic expansion on the basis of per head, wage, andspending growth will stay low. With income inequality, low wages have become prevalent,which limit household spending and bring about several tiers of pricing, inaddition to stiff competition from a variety of retail sources.
This issue, along with a cheapand copious supply of goods into cities from producers in rural areas withshort supply chains & government subsidies on certain products, has made pricesstay down, particularly when looked at using Western standards.
Nevertheless, while cities inSouth Asia are traditionally ranked among the 10 cheapest, these locations arenot the cheapest in the world any longer.
In 2018, Syria’s capital,Damascus, claimed that title and is second-cheapest in this year’s survey.However, Damascus citizens might not agree the city was becoming cheaper, withinflation hitting an average of an estimated 28 per cent in this country aroundtwo years ago.
Even so, since the onset ofwar in 2011, local price rises have not totally offset a near-consistentdecline in the Syrian pound value.
In 2019, Damascus was replacedas the world’s least expensive city by Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
Caracas witnessed muchworsened economic conditions last year, as hyperinflation & a breakdown inpublic services spurred growing social instability.
In a bid to reduce currency pressure, the government of Venezuela in early 2018 unified and devalued the official exchange rates. However, with the prevailing problem of hyperinflation, the currency remains largely over-valued, and this led to a huge black market premium.
Wrapping Up
A growing number of locations,as shown in the cases of Damascus and Caracas, are getting cheaper as a resultof the influence of economic or political disruption.
While cities in the South Asianregion stays structurally cheap, political unrest is becoming increasingly rifeand reduces the relative cost of living, implying an element of risk canconsiderably be seen in some of the cheapest cities in the world.
Locations like Karachi (Pakistan),Almaty (Kazakhstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), and Lagos (Nigeria) have experiencedeconomic, political, security and infrastructural problems, which are welldocumented.
Besides, there is some correlation between the EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living survey as well as the Global Liveability survey, its sister’s ranking. Therefore, cheaper cities equally tend to be less attractive to foreigners to live and work in.
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