London: Karachi and Bengaluru emerged as the world’s cheapest cities to live in, a new global survey reveals. The sub-continent as a whole offers the best value for money, with Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi also being ranked on the lower end of the Worldwide Cost of Living Report 2015 compiled by the Economic Intelligence Unit.
The report said, “Indian cities make up four of the six cheapest (cities). Structurally low wages and price subsidies on some staples have made for a highly price sensitive market. Falling oil prices will add further weight to this.” The annual report is a relocation tool, which compares the cost of living between 133 cities using New York as a base city.
The Indian city shares the lowest rank on the list with Karachi followed by Mumbai at 130, Chennai at 129 and New Delhi at 128 on a list topped by Singapore for being the most expensive for the second consecutive year. It heads an unchanged top five compared to last year, joined by Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney. Geneva, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Helsinki complete the top 10.
London, comes in as 11th-most expensive place, and is now as pricey as Tokyo, which was replaced by Singapore as the most expensive city last year. Relative stability at the top of the rankings is in contrast to significant fluctuations lower down, especially relating to exchange rate weakness.
