London, August 20: Going by the time it takes to earn a burger and an iPod in 73 cities
Mumbai and New Delhi are among the cheapest cities in the world, according to research by UBS, the investment bank. The other cheapest cities are Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
Someone earning the average wage in Zurich and New York can buy an iPod Nano after nine hours of work, while workers in Mumbai, need to work 20 nine-hour days, or about a month, to purchase the same player.
Oslo is now the world’s most expensive city, according to the study, followed by Zurich, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and New York, according to the figures, which are based on a basket of 144 goods and services.
Pet Ka Sawaal: The survey was based on the hours people in each of the cities have to work to earn a Big Mac burger and buy an iPod.
It takes a Sydneysider on an average wage 14 minutes of work time to afford a Big Mac burger, compared with a global average of 22.
In Nairobi, due mainly to lower wages, a worker must labour for nearly 2 ½ hours for the same burger.
The concept of purchasing power the quantity of goods and services you can buy with the average wage used in the survey is in some ways a more meaningful measure of cost pressures, relating it to the spending power people have.
The survey translated prices into US dollars to compare the outright cost of goods across countries.
Suit mera dekho
While complicated by fluctuating exchange rates, Kuala Lumpur and Manila emerge as the cheapest cities in the world to buy clothes.
A two-piece suit and shoes will cost $120 (Rs 5,850) for women and about $200 (Rs 9,750) for men.
In food prices, the same basket of 39 groceries costs an average of $385 (Rs 18,760) globally.
UBS’s head of wealth management research in Japan, Brian Rose, said humans had a natural tendency to focus on increasing costs.
“I think it’s one of those things where the grass is always greener somewhere else,” he said.
“It seems like some place may be cheap, things cost less, but then actually if you look at how much people make there, it is not so great.”
—Agencies