Jakarta's cost of living soars, outranks KL, Bandar Seri Begawan
Jakarta's cost of living soars, outranks KL, Bandar Seri Begawan
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta is the second most expensive city in Southeast Asia,
after Singapore, following a rise in living costs, according to
the latest survey conducted by Economist magazine's research
unit, the Economist Intelligence Unit.
According to the survey, Jakarta outranks Ho Chi Minh City,
Hanoi, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, the capital
of Malaysia, in terms of cost of living.
Twelve months ago, Jakarta was the sixth most expensive city
in the region, behind Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Bandar Seri
Begawan and Kula Lumpur.
Singapore's cost of living is the highest in the region, as it
was 12 months ago.
The survey, which was released on Monday, did not provide any
particular reasons for Jakarta's climb up the list of the
costliest cities.
It did, however, identify two general reasons a city's cost of
living index changes, that is exchange rate movement and price
movement.
"If, for example, a currency strengthens or inflation pushes
the price of goods up, the relative cost of living in that
country will also rise," the survey said.
The rupiah has strengthened by about 8 percent against the US
dollar since the beginning of the year, while inflation stood at
below 7 percent year-on-year in June this year.
Globally, Jakarta now ranks 84th on the list of the world's
costliest cities, compared to its ranking of 104 a year ago.
Meanwhile, the world's most expensive cities are Tokyo and
Osaka, which have held these positions since 1991, according to
the survey.
Hong Kong ranks fifth and Singapore is 14th, along with
Amsterdam.
Cities in the United States became relatively cheaper since
last year as the dollar weakened, particularly compared with the
euro. New York City, the country's costliest city, dropped out of
the world's top-10 costliest cities to 13th.
Cities in countries whose currencies are pegged to the
weakening US dollar also saw declines in cost of living. These
cities include Beijing, Bahrain, Dubai and Riyadh.
On the other hand, living costs in European cities,
particularly those in the euro zone, rose significantly as the
strengthening of the euro against the US dollar made the region
comparatively more expensive.
European cities dominated the top of this year's list, with
seven cities ranked among the top 10. Paris leapt to seventh
place from 17th last year, outranking London.
Cities with the cheapest living costs were Tehran, the
cheapest of all, Asuncion, Harare, Manila, Sao Paolo and Mumbai.
The survey compares prices and products in more than a 100
cities around the world twice a year.
List of costliest cities
1. Tokyo
2. Osaka Kobe
3. Oslo
4. Zurich
5. Hong Kong
6. Copenhagen
7. Geneva, Paris
9. Reykjavik
10. London
14. Amsterdam, Singapore
84. Al Khobar, Istanbul, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kuwait City, Panama
City
90. Casablanca, Ho Chi Minh
94. Hanoi, Kiev
96. Bandar Seri Begawan, Budapest, Kuala Lumpur, Nairobi
103. Bangkok, Phnom Penh
122. Manila
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit
(countries sharing the same rank have the same index value)