The Economist has ranked Tel Aviv the world's fifth most expensive city in its Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. The newspaper conducted its annual examination of the cost of a basket of 138 essential products in 133 cities worldwide.
The benchmark for comparison is New York, which receives 100 points. Paris, Hong Kong, and Zurich were in a three-way tie with 103 points each, all ahead of New York in terms of cost of living. Singapore used to be at the top of the rankings but has moved down to 4th place as a result of the many foreign workers who left the country because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Osaka and Tel Aviv both received 101 points, tying for fifth place.
"The pandemic has transformed consumer behavior, as lockdowns and trends such as working from home have increased the prices of consumer electronics and meal-at-home kits have taken the place of restaurant dining for middle-class families," said Upasana Dutt, head of worldwide cost of living at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The data is also an assessment of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on prices around the world. The data reflects the effect of the virus on currency fluctuations around the world, including the dip in the US dollar; the war in Syria, which pushed Damascus to the bottom of the list; and US sanctions on Iran that catapulted Tehran from the 106th most-expensive city to the 79th in this year's report.
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