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Moscow named world’s 54th most expensive city — poll

The top 10 cities in terms of cost of living are located predominantly in Europe

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. Moscow and St. Petersburg placed 54th and 51st accordingly in a cost-of-living rating of the world’s 77 largest cities. The results of the study commissioned by the Swiss banking multinational, UBS, were published on the bank’s website on Tuesday.

The top 10 cities in terms of cost of living are predominantly in Europe, with Zurich, Geneva and Oslo leading the charts as top three most expensive cities. Subsequently, Copenhagen came in fourth, while New York took fifth place.

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That being said, Prague (50th place), Sao Paulo (52nd place), Johannesburg (53rd place) and Bangkok (55th place) were ranked close to the Russian cities on the list.

In ranking the cities, the bank not only considered the price levels, but also the earning levels, purchasing power, and average working time needed to purchase the same product.

Geneva, Zurich and Luxembourg have the highest earning levels. In contrast, Moscow took 63rd place, while St. Petersburg came in 66th. Los Angeles residents ranked first in terms of purchasing power. Zurich and Miami came in second and third, respectively, while Moscow and St. Petersburg took the 59th and 68th spots correspondingly.

According to the study, Moscow residents need to work 30 minutes, and St. Petersburg citizens - 38 minutes, to earn a burger from a well-known fast food company, while the residents of Los Angeles require 14 minutes.

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