Singapore Becomes Asia’s Most Expensive City to Live In

By: Jovillene Datu

Singapore surpasses Hong Kong in being Asia’s most expensive city to live in. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released rankings at the start of 2022 and stated that “Singapore jumped two places to tie with Paris at the second spot on the list of the world’s most expensive cities to live in.”

 Hong Kong held its top spot in 2020 but slid to fifth on the ranking during the start of 2021. The city of Zurich placed fourth, cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Osaka placed below them. Out of all the cities of China, Shanghai placed 19th, Shenzhen 22th, and Beijing 36th.

The recent report measured the cost of living from all 173 cities in Asia. This included the comparison of food, drink, clothing, hospice care, rent, transportation, utility bills, and many more. The data was collected at a certain time period when the prices of goods were sold at their highest prices. EIU’s ‘WorldWide Cost of Living Upasana Dutta’ stated that “Restrictions being re-enforced across the globe amid a resurgence in COVID-19 infections have disrupted the supply of goods leading to shortages and higher prices. The prices of goods and services rose up to an average of 3.5% and unleaded gas rose by 21% that was purchased from Hong Kong.

Singapore’s growing population resulted in the demand for property to increase. Supply is very limited, so the rate of poverty and rental prices go up. A single person estimated monthly would cost around $983 with rent and $1,342 without rent. Considering Singapore’s “Advanced technological infrastructure,” they also have the ability of skilled labor, an efficient and accessible way businesses can be established, and favorable laws. According to ‘Scmp.com’, the country’s wealthiest people are worth a combined total of 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. Their wealth comes from machinery, financial services, electronics manufacturing, and especially the world’s busiest cargo seaport. Overall, Singapore’s evolution to their technology will keep increasing, so will the cost of living in their cities.