I just reviewed a recent ranking of the cost of living in different cities around the world, and I am quite surprised at how Switzerland completely dominates the list. It's no surprise that the most expensive city in the world is Zurich, but what's interesting is that the top six positions are all Swiss cities. Zurich ranks first with an index of 112.5, meaning living there costs approximately 12.5% more than in New York, which serves as the reference point with 100 points.

What’s curious is that although New York is considered expensive for many, it doesn’t even make the top 5 worldwide. Geneva follows Zurich with 111.4 points, then Basel, Lausanne, Lugano, and Bern, all in Switzerland. It seems that if you ask which city is the most expensive to live in right now, the answer is clearly Swiss. Salaries in Zurich range between 7,000 and 9,000 Swiss francs per month, so they at least compensate for the extremely high cost.

In the United States, New York sets the global standard, followed by Honolulu with 94.4 points and San Francisco with 90.7. Cities like Seattle, Boston, and even Los Angeles also appear in the top 25. In Asia, Singapore is the most expensive with 85.3 points, quite a bit below the Swiss cities. What strikes me most is the huge gap between Zurich and the rest of the world, even compared to other cities we consider very costly.