Re: Geneva: world's 5th most expensive city
Post 3
The "worldwide cost of living survey" is produced every year by "The Economist" magazine's "Economist Intelligence Unit." They evaluate the cost of 160 items (products and services) in 133 cities around the world, and rank cities according to their score. If you want to see where each of those 133 cities rank, Jessica, go to https://www.eiu.com/topic/worldwide-cost-of-living and download the entire report.
Paris was tied as #1 with Singapore and Hong Kong this year.
To answer your question, Sean, in order to be able to compare cities all around the world, they chose items that are universal, but also products that are found all around the world. This may produce some distortions, because, for example, if you use the price of a McDonald's hamburger (and they do) for comparison, only because you can find them around the world, they may cost more in Paris than in Miami. But the price of your lunch may be lower in Paris if you eat a baguette, or in Hong Kong, if you eat something other than a hamburguer.
The higher cost of living in Zurich and Geneva was attributed to their having "the highest costs when it came to household, personal care, recreation and entertainment expenses."
But I am at a loss to explain why Paris ranks #1. I don't see it when I go there as a visitor, so it must be items like the cost of housing.
The comparison is also affected by exchange rates, and, as you are aware, the swiss franc quite strong. So, while items are more expensive if you buy them with US dollars or UK pounds, if you earn your salary in swiss francs, it does not seem as expensive to you.
