Gautengers rejoice, your cost of living is in the bottom quartile of 135 cities surveyed by The Economist.
Johannesburg and Pretoria are ranked 100th in a survey of the world’s most expensive cities, having dropped 23 places since last year.
This is according to the Worldwide Cost of Living survey, released on Tuesday by The Economist intelligence unit, the research arm of the news magazine. The survey is biannual and compares prices and products in more than 130 cities around the world.
Oslo is now the world’s most expensive city for a second year running, while last year’s runner-up, Tokyo, has been muscled into fifth position by Paris, Copenhagen and London, the findings show. European cities make up eight of the top 10 positions, with Tokyo and Osaka filling the remaining two ranks.
Moscow, in 26th place, is now more expensive than New York, ranked 28th. Other former Soviet cities are still relatively cheap, as illustrated by Almaty in Kazakhstan at 111 and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, at 120.
The best value for money in the world can be found in Tehran, Iran. Overall, the cheapest region is Latin America, with the lowest average cost and eight cities in the bottom 30 places.
Only one African city features in the costliest 50 destinations: Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire has tied for 44th position with St Petersburg and Washington DC. Five more African cities saw an increase in the cost of living compared with destinations around them. Lagos in Nigeria moved up four places to 59, Lusaka in Zambia was ranked 73rd from 91st previously, Casablanca, Morocco, moved up one place and Nairobi, Kenya, moved from 93 to 88.
Johannesburg and Pretoria dropped the furthest overall as a result of a weaker rand, said the researchers, but did not provide further details.
According to the unit, there are two major reasons why a city’s cost of living index could change: movement in the exchange rate and movement in prices. ‘Since a common currency is required in making a comparative calculation all local prices are converted into dollars, which emphasises the role of currency movement,” said the unit. Inflation could also affect the rankings.
Because the survey excludes accommodation costs, some increases can be disguised, especially when currencies are pegged to the dollar, such as in the Middle East. Residential rentals and house price inflation have been strong in Gulf states, but this has not impacted on the relative cost of living due to the weak dollar to which many currencies are pegged. Price controls have also lessened the impact of real estate inflation, says the survey.
Canadian cities could end up becoming the most expensive in North America if the greenback remains weak. New York is the most expensive city on the continent, but Vancouver, in 34th place overall, is only 4% cheaper. Montreal has tied with the Chicago for 36th position overall and are the second most expensive destinations in their respective countries.