4 Indian Cities Among Cheapest Global Cities to Live In: EIU Report

According to the 2017 Worldwide Cost of Living Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on March 21, 2017, four Indian cities are among the cheapest cities to live in globally.

• As per the report, Singapore was the most expensive city to live among 133 for the fourth consecutive year while Almaty in Kazakhstan was the cheapest city in the world, placed at the bottom of the list at 133.

Top 10 Cheapest Cities

The EIU report showed that about half of the top 10 cheapest cities of the world were from South Asia that too particularly from India and Pakistan.

• It said that International Monetary Fund has predicted that Asia accounts for 40 percent of the global economy and in the four years to 2020, will contribute two-thirds of worldwide growth.
• However, the report also said that though Indian subcontinent remains structurally cheap, one of the main reasons is instability which means that there is a considerable element of risk in some of the world’s cheapest cities.
• Cities like Algiers, Chennai and Mumbai jointly shared the fifth position for being the cheapest cities of the world and were ranked 127 out of 133 global cities.
• Similarly, cities like Kiev, Bucharest and New Delhi also scored a joint position of 8 with being ranked at 124 out of 133 cities globally.
• The report also noted that many of these places had well-documented economic, political, security and infrastructural challenges.

Top 10 Most Expensive Cities

Key Highlights

Besides being home to many of the world’s cheapest cities, Asia is also the home of some of the world’s most expensive cities as well.

• In case of China which is considered as Asia’s economic powerhouse,  Shanghai city slipped by five places to be ranked as the 16th  most expensive city due to weakening consumption and a depreciation in the renminbi.
• Singapore retained its title as the world’s most expensive city for the fourth consecutive year, while Hong Kong remained second, followed by Zurich at the 3rd place.
• The repost said that Singapore remains the most expensive place in the world even to buy and run a car, as well as the second-priciest destination in which to buy clothes.
• Conversely Manchester and London dropped 25 and 18 places respectively mostly due to last year’s plunge in the British pound following the Brexit vote.

About Worldwide Cost of Living Index

The Worldwide Cost of Living is a bi-annual (twice yearly) EIU survey being published for the past 3 decades.

• The index compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services across 133 cities.
• The product and services include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs.
• The report is meant to help companies to calculate relocation costs for expatriate staff.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is a British business within The Economist Group providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, country risk service reports, and industry reports