(JNi.media) The 16th edition of the Swiss National Bank (USB) prices and earnings study, comparing purchasing power in 71 cities across the globe, is out, with analysis of more than 68,000 data-points highlighting the effects of political and economic events on prices and earnings, and revealing “significant changes compared with the previous study three years ago.”
According to the study, Zurich, Geneva and New York are the most expensive cities in the world. Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the Middle East not including rents, and Dubai is the most expensive in the region with rents included. As a general rule, when rents are included in the price level index, almost every city indices decrease in relation to New York City, with the exception of Hong Kong. Rents make New York City the most expensive city to live in, and Sofia, Bulgaria, the least expensive.
When rents are included, Tel Aviv ranks 24th on the list of most expensive cities.
Who works harder to buy a Big Mac? According to the USB study, consumer goods that are available all over the globe can serve as indicator of the ratio of earnings to purchasing. In a section that calculates how much time an average worker in each city must work to earn enough to purchase a McDonald’s Big Mac and an Apple iPhone revealed some bewildering, if expected news:
Hong Kong scored the shortest work time required to earn enough money for a Big Mac — 9 minutes. In NY City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Sydney — 9 minutes. In Tel Aviv, over in the Middle East, it would take a worker 21 minutes. In Dubai, the same Big Mac would only take 17 minutes to earn, and in Doha, Qatar, 18 minutes. Even in Moscow the Big Mac is easier to obtain than in the First Hebrew City — only 20 minutes. But in Istanbul one must labor 34 minutes for that Big Mac, in Manila 87 minutes, and in Nairobi a full 173 minutes.
And if the same worker wants to buy an iPhone 6, 16GB? In Zurich he or she could take one home after 20.6 hours of work. In NYC after 24 hours. In Miami after 27 hours. In Tel Aviv it would require 75.3 hours. But compare that with Warsaw — 141.6 hours, Mexico City — 217.6 hours, Cairo — 353.4 hours, and Mumbai — 349.4 hours.
Finally, which city residents make the most on the planet? The study calculated gross hourly wages from the gross annual earnings data divided by the annual number of working hours. Net hourly earnings were calculated by removing taxes, social security and other special deductions from gross annual income for each city, and dividing it by annual working hours. Hourly wages were weighted according to the distribution of 15 professions.
And so, the top earning cities in the world are both in Switzerland: Zurcih, followed by Geneva. NY City is in third place. London is in 11th place. Tokyo 12th. Tel Aviv is in 33rd place — ahead of every other city in the Middle East. Dubai settled for 35th place, Doha, Qatar in 39th.
The ten lowest earning cities in the survey are Bucharest, Mexico City, Sofia, Manila, Mumbai, Cairo, New Delhi, Jakarta, Kiev, and Nairobi.