Kyiv makes list of world’s top 100 most expensive cities: The Economist

Kyiv is in 86th place in the list of the world’s most expensive cities, Worldwide Cost of Living 2020, which was prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit. This was reported by delo.ua outlet.

The capital of Ukraine climbed 22 places and now shares the 86^th place with Moscow. The Economist experts explained the rise by strengthening of the hryvnia exchange rate, as well as the growth of the minimum and real wages.

The capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, soared in the list partially due to a record crop in 2019, which strengthened the export earnings rate and strengthened the hryvnia against the dollar. Also, Kyiv became stronger amid rising demand from the population. It is provoked by an increase in the minimum wage and an overall increase in wages, albeit from a very low base.

Assessment procedure

For the study, more than 400 prices are compared for 160 products and services: food, drinks, clothing, household supplies, and personal care items, home rents, transport, utilities, private schools, domestic help, and recreational costs.

Prices in all cities are compared with New York – the price index in the city is set at 100 points. Kyiv scored 58 points.

TOP 10

• The first place has been shared between Singapore, Hong Kong (a special region of China) and Osaka (Japan) with 102 points.
• New York comes fourth with 100 points.
• Followed by Paris and Zurich with 99 points each.

• Tel Aviv scored 97 points and is in the seventh position.
• The eighth place was shared by Los Angeles and Tokyo with 96 points each.
• Geneva closed the top ten with 95 points.

Istanbul showed the biggest leap, having risen by 24 positions. Now the city is in 96^th place.

The cheapest cities

• Damascus, Syria with 25 points is the city with the lowest prices.
• Followed by Tashkent with 30 points.
• And in the third place, is Almaty, Kazakhstan (34).
• The fourth position has been shared between Argentine’s Buenos Aires and Pakistan’s Karachi with 35 points each.
• Venezuela’s Karakas closed the cheapest five with 36 points.

Sofia, Bulgaria made the biggest leap down the list (from 90th position to 106th), Casablanca, Morocco (from 92 to 106) and Reykjavik, Iceland (from 15 to 29).

The full text of the study is available here.