Trams drive past the offices of Swiss banks UBS (L) and Credit Suisse at Paradeplatz square in Zurich August 10, 2012.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (SWITZERLAND - Tags: BUSINESS CITYSPACE) - RTR36NO6

Zurich is the most expensive city in the world

4.7 days

To break it down: Geneva is the most expensive city in the world for buying food, Budapest is the costliest for gadgets, Hong Kong for housing, and Milan for men’s and women’s clothing.

Published   |  Photo by Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann
Trams drive past the offices of Swiss banks UBS (L) and Credit Suisse at Paradeplatz square in Zurich August 10, 2012.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (SWITZERLAND - Tags: BUSINESS CITYSPACE) - RTR36NO6
4.7 days

But across the nine categories of prices measured by Swiss bank UBS in its survey of the cost of living in 77 cities around the world, the most expensive across the board is Zurich.

Trams drive past the offices of Swiss banks UBS (L) and Credit Suisse at Paradeplatz square in Zurich August 10, 2012.  REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (SWITZERLAND - Tags: BUSINESS CITYSPACE) - RTR36NO6
4.7 days

The Swiss are also the top earners in the UBS list: It takes someone in Zurich just 4.7 days to be able to buy an iPhone, compared to 6.7 in New York, 39.3 in Beijing, and 72.2 in Nairobi.

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