Sydney 7th most expensive city in the world

An honour or something to shame for ? Fact is that Sydney is the seventh most expensive city in the world to live in. This according to the yearly survey of The Economist Intelligence Unit. The cost of living in Australia has gone through the roof in the past decade. Ten years ago Sydney was 25% cheaper than New York, now it’s 50% more expensive ! Main contributors are rising consumer prices in combination with the rising Australian dollar. To compare to euros: a litre of petrol did cost $ 1.00 in 2008. Against a currency rate of two against the euro it meant € 0.50 for a litre of petrol. Now a litre of petrol cost $ 1.45 with a currency rate of less than 1.2 to the euro means € 1.15. Thus for us locals it is 1.5 times more expensive to drive a car, for a European tourist visiting Australia it has become more than two times more expensive… in only 3 years time.

As Sydneysiders we often complain about the ridiculous prices of certain consumer goods. On the other hand the pitfall is that you slowly start thinking it is normal to pay $ 4.50 for a loaf of bread, $ 5 for a kilo of apples, $ 4 for a twin roll of kitchen paper, $ 5 for a 250 gr pack of creamed butter, $ 5 for a litre of Greek yoghurt and $ 12-15 for an ordinary bottle of wine. Fact is that with $ 400 for a trolley of groceries, fruit and vegetables each week I pay on average twice as much as for the same groceries back in Holland. I remember I phoned Nancy in October after my hilarious experience at Albert Heijn in Naarden where I had to pay € 1.45 in total for a pack of yoghurt, one banana and two mandarins. I checked twice with the caissier whether she hadn’t made a mistake. For the same you would pay $ 6 (€ 5) here.

The survey shows five Australian cities appear in the Top 20 of most expensive cities in the world: Melbourne at 8, Perth 12, Brisbane 13 and Adelaide at number 17. International newspapers highlight the rising cost of bread in Australia, and especially in Perth. An average loaf in the Western Australian capital did cost $ 1.90 ten years ago, now $ 5.50. The cost of living survey compares hundreds of prices across 160 products and services, including food, clothing, rent, transport, utility bills and recreational costs.

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit