Singapore now world's most expensive city

[lilvestor]

the cost of living has absolutely nothing to do with the standard of living

Eh... then how do you explain the following...

World's 10 most expensive cities to live in 2014
1. Singapore
2. Paris
3. Oslo, Norway
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Sydney
6. Caracas, Venezuela
6. Geneva, Switzerland
6. Melbourne
6. Tokyo
7. Copenhagen, Denmark

and the following list:
World's 10 least expensive cities to live in 2014
122. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
123. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
124. Panama City, Panama
124. Bucharest, Romania
126. Algiers, Algeria
127. Damascus, Syria
127. Kathmandu, Nepal
129. New Delhi
130. Karachi, Pakistan
131. Mumbai, India

In mathematical term, the correlation between cost of living and standard of living is very very positive.

You can't compare the bottom few to the ones on top, the ones at the bottom are usually cities in 3rd world countries, this is why they are dirt cheap. A better comparison would be to just look at the cities in the OECD or developed nations.

[lilvestor]

They are all cities. The correlation may not be positive for smaller settlements.

Even when correlation is clearly positive, it may not be linear. i.e. once the standard of living is above a certain level, it will take a lot more $$$ just to improve it slightly.

Certainly. But "absolutely" is mathematically not acceptable. haha.
And, there is really no clear standard on "Standard of living". I am ok with HDB but others may want a condo.

Even a 3-room HDB is fine too since I had lived in one for more than 20 years.
But, my standard is not everyone's standard

You are wrong, there are ways to measure the standard of living, like the HDI.

[CityFarmer]

The view of Mr. Tharman, and he should also represent the official view.

Cost of living reports do not reflect costs for locals: DPM Tharman

SINGAPORE — Cost of living reports — such as the one released by the Economist Intelligence Unit which ranked Singapore as the costliest place to live in — are meant to measure cost of living for expatriates in various parts of the world, and thus do not reflect those of local residents, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam today (Mar 5).

There are two things which make a big difference when comparing cost of living for expatriates and locals, Mr Tharman said, as he wrapped up the Budget debate in Parliament.

The first is currency, he said. In Singapore’s case, the Singapore dollar has strengthened over the years, and this means it is more expensive for expatriates who are paid in a foreign currency. A stronger Singapore dollar also improves lives in Singapore, as purchasing power for item is improved.

The second is the difference in items being measured, Mr Tharman said. The EIU study measured items such as imported cheese, which may not be purchased by Singapore residents. Singapore’s public transport cost is also significantly cheaper than most other cities like Tokyo and Paris, he said.

What is important for the Government is that Singaporeans, particularly those in the low and middle income groups, have incomes that grew faster. In the last five years, incomes of median households have surpassed that of the increase in inflation, Mr Tharman pointed out.

Ref: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/cos...pm-tharman

[Freenasi]

There is certain group of products or services that have escalated in price lately, like transport and housing. Here, people have a choice to choose. One can take taxi or bus/mrt if cars are expensive. One can go polyclinic when private hospitals/dentists are charging exhorbitant prices.

However, I noticed nowadays that the "average-man" alternative is quite expensive anymore. Taxi price, polyclinics, bus/mrt fares, hawker food, etc.. Mr Singh mentioned about the "triple whammy" of rising rents and utility bills, growing wage costs, and a shortage of workers that the businesses are facing. I think this is real and the impact is felt on the ground. There is certain costs that the gov can control or indirectly control. I hope they will take a good look at this before this city becomes a playground just for the riches and ultra-rich.

[lilvestor]

There is certain group of products or services that have escalated in price lately, like transport and housing. Here, people have a choice to choose. One can take taxi or bus/mrt if cars are expensive. One can go polyclinic when private hospitals/dentists are charging exhorbitant prices.

However, I noticed nowadays that the "average-man" alternative is quite expensive anymore. Taxi price, polyclinics, bus/mrt fares, hawker food, etc.. Mr Singh mentioned about the "triple whammy" of rising rents and utility bills, growing wage costs, and a shortage of workers that the businesses are facing. I think this is real and the impact is felt on the ground. There is certain costs that the gov can control or indirectly control. I hope they will take a good look at this before this city becomes a playground just for the riches and ultra-rich.

Yes some of these alternatives are no longer "cheap". Take taxis for example, I was in Hamburg last year and I was late for my train ride so I took a 40 min taxi ride (during morning rush hour) from my hotel to the train station and the fare only came up to 20 euros, or ~32sgd at last year's exchange rate. A 40 min taxi ride in Singapore during rush hour can easily cost you $25 if you include all the surcharges and possibly ERP.

[valuebuddies]

My wife just returned from France recently, she took cab in the morning from her hotel to office which costs approx EUR40 each trip. I did a check on Google map, the distance is actually less than 20km and about 17 minutes by car. I seldom take taxi in Singapore as I thought it would be cheaper and sometime even more convenient to travel by public transport. A taxi ride from airport to my home with midnight charges cost me more than $30, well it is costly but I think it is still at affordable level in this expensive city. I used to rent a car also which cost me almost $300 for 2 days in a hatchback, so do you still think taxi in Singapore is expensive? I think otherwise. Having said this, I will still prefer public transport.

[chialc88]

Economist's cost of living report 'not representative' of life of local residents - Today by Joy Fang

DPM Tharman weighted in on a report released by EIU:
Cost of living surveys are useful for HR manager to decide where to place their workers globally, they are not a good representation of how life is for local residents.

He cited a survey done by Asia Competitiveness Institution done in 2012 which distinguish expats from local.
It found that while Singapore was ranked 5th out of 109 cities in the index for expat, it was ranked 61th when it come to cost of living for Singapore residents.

In term of business costs, there has to be acceptance that
"we are not going to be a cheap location for business."

Love Compassion


A Life not Reflected is a Life not Worth Living.

[chialc88]

Dear ValueBuddies,
I took a cab to CDG airport due to night train delay from Milan.

It's a good one night hotel room.

After this experience, I will stay some where near the airport the night before.

Relax...

Love Compassion


A Life not Reflected is a Life not Worth Living.

[Freenasi]

In European countries and American, its always cheaper to self-drive than to take a taxi. Not many peope take taxis as cars are cheap and also the rental of car is cheap too. When I was in Italy for business trip, I spoke to the driver how come the price of hiring a cab is so ex, and I was told not many people will book cab and thus the the price of the service. The good thing about Singapore is the compactness of the country and taxi drivers can easily pick up passengers after dropping off one. I know taxi drivers who prefer just to drive single shift and not to share with another co-driver, and the fares collected with single-shift is enough to cover the taxi rental cost. So, the justification of raising taxi fares is quite debatable to my understanding.

[LionFlyer]

What stands out is ...

World's 10 least expensive cities to live in 2014
122. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
123. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Top Oil producing Nation and RICH is last 10 in cost of living. Interesting indeed. Maybe we should benchmark against them in performance

Problem with ranking like this is to understand the motivations and the limitations. Do we want to be rank with Mumbai, Karachi for the cheapest?

Mashup the data, these cheap countries also very jialak in Doing Business (based on DB ranking 2013-2014), so so when it comes to WEF GCI index.

Venezuela, being among the expensive cities, is also terrible in DB index and WEF. So being expensive can be both good and bad, depends on the situation.