(The Economist) According to the latest findings of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), our sister company, a strong shekel and rising prices for alcohol, groceries and transport have pushed Tel Aviv to the top of the ranking, up four places from last year.

Paris, which shared the top spot with Hong Kong and Zurich in 2020, is now the second-priciest place to live, alongside Singapore.

The survey, which compares the prices of more than 200 products and services in 173 cities around the world, is primarily used by firms to negotiate appropriate compensation when relocating staff, but it can also reveal pricing trends at both the local and global level.

Supply-chain problems related to the pandemic have pushed the price of goods up in much of the world.

In September the cost of shipping a standard container was four times higher than a year earlier.

Some cities experienced additional pressure.

American sanctions imposed on Iran pushed its capital, Tehran, 50 places up the ranking to 29th.

The price of the EIU’s basket of goods and services there has risen by 42% in local-currency terms since November 2020.

But this is dwarfed by a 1,766% increase in Caracas, thanks in part to price controls imposed by Venezuela’s government.

Even excluding a handful of such cities with very high inflation, the EIU’s data show average global prices have risen by 3.5% year-on-year in local-currency terms, compared with just 1.9% last year.

Source: The Economist