London falls to 22nd most expensive city

London has fallen from the second most expensive city in the world to 22nd, according to research by UBS Wealth Management.

This follows the fall of the pound to $1.40 earlier this year, although if the recent rebound of sterling to $1.70 was taken into account, London would be the fifth most expensive city.

London’s rail travel is still the most expensive, with the average second-class one-way ticket for a 125-mile journey costing £58.69, double the fare in other Western European cities.

UBS based the survey figures on a basket of 144 goods and services.

The most expensive city in the world is now Oslo, followed by Zurich, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and New York. The cheapest cities are Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Delhi and Mumbai.

The gap between the cost of living in Eastern and Western Europe has only narrowed slightly, with the basket of services about 35% cheaper in the former than in the latter, compared with 38% in 2006.

The hardest workers are in Asian and Middle Eastern cities, clocking up an average of 2,119 and 2,063 hours per year respectively. By contrast, workers in Lyon and Paris spent only 1,582 and 1,594 hours at work per year respectively.

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