Several Central Asia cities appear on the list of cities with the highest cost of living created by Numbeo statistical resource, published on January 2020. The costs of transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment were taken into consideration.
Cost of Living Index by City 2020
The list is headed by five Swiss cities – Zurich, Basel, Lausanne, Geneva and Bern.
The top ten include the Norwegian Stavanger, Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen and the capital of Iceland – Reykjavik. Moscow is the most expensive Russian city, located on 251st place.
In the ranking, the countries of the Central Asian region are closer to the end. So, the Kazakhstan city Nur-Sultan is the most expensive city of Central Asia and it is located on the 386th position. Almaty city is located close to the capital on the 389th position.
The capital of Kyrgyzstan is the third most expensive among Central Asian cities and it can be found on the 410th line of the rating.
The capital of Uzbekistan – Tashkent city is located at 413rd place among 440 cities and it is the last among the most expensive cities of Central Asia.
About Numbeo ranking
Note that Numbeo is the world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide. Numbeo provides information on world living conditions including cost of living, housing indicators, health care, traffic, crime and pollution.
The report is based on the cost of living indeces was published by the statistical resource Numbeo. These indices used in “Cost of Living Index by City 2020” are relative to New York City (NYC). Which means that for New York City, each index should be 100(%). If another city has, for example, rent index of 120, it means that on an average in that city rents are 20% more expensive than in New York City. If a city has rent index of 70, that means on an average in that city rents are 30% less expensive than in New York City.
- Cost of Living Index (Excl. Rent) is a relative indicator of consumer goods prices, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities. Cost of Living Index doesn’t include accommodation expenses such as rent or mortgage. If a city has a Cost of Living Index of 120, it means Numbeo estimates it is 20% more expensive than New York (excluding rent).
- Rent Index is an estimation of prices of renting apartments in the city compared to New York City. If Rent index is 80, Numbeo estimates that price of rents in that city is on an average 20% less than the price in New York.
- Groceries Index is an estimation of grocery prices in the city compared to New York City. To calculate this section, Numbeo uses weights of items in the “Markets” section for each city.
- Restaurants Index is a comparison of prices of meals and drinks in restaurants and bars compared to NYC.
- Cost of Living Plus Rent Index is an estimation of consumer goods prices including rent comparing to New York City.
- Local Purchasing Power shows relative purchasing power in buying goods and services in a given city for the average wage in that city. If domestic purchasing power is 40, this means that the inhabitants of that city with the average salary can afford to buy on an average 60% less goods and services than New York City residents with an average salary.
Source: Numbeo.com
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