Do you consider casual prostitution when your rent is due? Is offering your firstborn child as a housing deposit becoming an option? Would filling your car tank up with blood be less painful than petrol? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re not alone. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2012 Cost of Living index, Sydney and Melbourne are the world’s 7th and 8th most expensive cities to live in.
Things might be tough in Australia, but spare a thought for the citizens of Switzerland, who have two cities in the top three. Zurich is the world’s most expensive city, followed by Tokyo, Japan and then Geneva. Still not feeling any better? Then maybe consider moving to New York which is ranked 47th, making it about 50% more affordable than Sydney or Melbourne.
The EUI believe that our rankings (which were calculated by comparing the prices of hundreds of goods and services) were indicative of a strong Australian dollar.
Unfortunately this means that we can’t point the finger at just one culprit… but that won’t stop me. So Melbourne, why don’t you scale your coffee shop to customer ratio back to 1:2 and convert all the excess cafes to houses? Rental problem solved! Sydney? You should replace all the parking inspectors with flowerpots. It might not fix anything, but I think we’d all be a lot happier.
Full List:
1. Zurich, Switzerland.
2. Tokyo, Japan
3. Geneva, Switzerland
4. Osaka Kobe, Japan
5. Oslo, Norway
6. Paris, France
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Melbourne, Australia
9. Singapore, Singapore,
10. Frankfurt, Germany
Title Image by Cameron Spencer via Getty
