The latest survey from a UK Economist Intelligence Unit has put Australian cities high on the most expensive places to live list, largely thanks to the rising Australian dollar.
According to the survey released this week, Sydney and Melbourne have a cost of living 40 per cent higher than New York and even Brisbane and Perth are 25 per cent more expensive. And the Australian cities rate as more costly than places like London, Rome and Vienna.
Melbourne is now more expensive than New York.
This comes as no surprise to me, having spent the last two weeks in the Big Apple in an “expensive” apartment belonging to friends only to find it’s largely what you might pay at home. Food is about the same although fruit and vegetables here cost a lot, but transport costs and entry/tourism things here seem cheaper than home.
My experiences in Rome, Beijing, Hong Kong and London all tell me much the same. “Home” is now an expensive place to be.
Anyway the report from The Australian goes on to say:
All four cities are now costlier than major cities including London, Vienna, Rome, Berlin, Hong Kong and Beijing, according to the survey, which compares the cost of living using more than 400 individual prices in 133 cities around the world.
Tokyo, Oslo and Osaka take the top three places overall while Mumbai, Tunis and Karachi are the three cheapest.
The Australian cities’ rankings have climbed sharply in the unit’s surveys in recent years.
Ten years ago Sydney was ranked 71st most expensive and Melbourne 80th, while Perth was ranked 91st, and Brisbane was 93rd. Compared to a cost of living index of 100 for New York, costs in Australian cities have doubled in the last 10 years.
The survey points to rising domestic prices as being partly responsible for the rise but lays the main blame on the dollar, which it says has all but doubled against the US dollar in ten years.
The survey’s author, Jon Copestake, said from London that “Australia has long been an attractive destination, with Melbourne and Sydney becoming international cities in their own right”.
Possibly this incredible rise in costs may well dampen this attraction but I somehow find this unlikely – sun, sand, beaches, open spaces just might come at a higher cost but they will remain attractive. And as a tourist there are still plenty of ways to do things “on the cheap” in Australia.
However we may well need to start catering for a different kind of tourist in Australia – it could be out with the backpacker and in with business and middle class travellers.
For Austalians travelling abroad however it will be simply a delight to know how much further our dollar now goes.
There are some related articles in the sidebar of The Australian’s story that contain additional information worth a look. Here are some of the headlines (click the link above to get to them):
* Brisbane costly but better than Sydney Courier Mail, 1 hour ago
* Thrills and bills of Melbourne city living Herald Sun, 1 hour ago
* Expensive ‘Boganville’ hits new heights Perth Now, 2 hours ago
* Cost of living 40pc higher than New York Adelaide Now, 9 hours ago
* Melbourne a costly place to visit Herald Sun, 17 Jun 2011
