Cost of living in Tel Aviv higher than in New York, poll shows

Tel Aviv is now officially the most expensive city in the Middle East. Although this comes as no surprise to the city’s residents, a poll published by international consulting firm Mercer on Tuesday shows that the cost of living in the first modern Hebrew city is among the highest in the world. Tel Aviv is ranked number 31 in terms of cost of living, jumping 7 spots from the 38th place it held in 2011.

The poll puts Tel Aviv „ahead” of less expensive cities, such as New York (33), Paris (37), and Milan (38). Taking first place is Japan’s capital, Tokyo. The capital of Angola, Luanda, is listed second, with the third place again going to another Japanese city, Osaka. The rest of the top ten spots belong, consecutively, to Moscow, Geneva, Zurich, Singapore, N’Djamena (the capital of Chad) and Hong Kong.

Mercer, a human resource financial firm, conducts an annual poll to calculate global cost of living. The poll looks at 214 cities from around the world, reviewing a list of 200 items in each city. Among other categories, transportation, clothing, and food costs, as well as housing maintenance, entertainment and the cost of housing are examined.

The city found to have the lowest cost of living by the poll is the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, which holds the 186th spot in the overall ranking.