In First, Tel Aviv Passes Paris to Rank as World’s Most Expensive City

Tel Aviv is the world’s most expensive city to live in as soaring inflation has dramatically increased costs, a survey published on Wednesday showed.

The city climbed five rankings and pushed Paris out of the top spot, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) study showed.

The Worldwide Cost of Living Index tracks the cost of living, of goods and services, across 173 cities across the world.

Prices of transport and groceries in the coastal city have risen on average of 3.5 percent in local currency terms, compared with an increase of just 1.9 percent this time last year. But the strength of the shekel, which has seen the highest rate against the dollar since the mid 1990s, also contributed to the spike.

Paris and Singapore secured joint second place on the index, followed by Zurich and Hong Kong. New York came in sixth place, followed by Geneva.

Tehran made the biggest jump from 79th to 29th place, as global sanctions caused prices to inflate.

“Although most economies across the world are now recovering as COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out, many major cities are still seeing spikes in cases, leading to social restrictions. These have disrupted the supply of goods, leading to shortages and higher prices,” said Upasana Dutt, head of WCOL at EIU.

“We can clearly see the impact in this year’s index, with the rise in petrol prices particularly stark,” she said, adding that central banks will likely raise interest rates with caution to stem inflation.

Damascus, a mere 190 miles from Tel Aviv, was ranked the world’s cheapest city to live in.