The Tel Aviv skyline at night. Photo: Gilad Avidan via Wikimedia Commons.

i24 News – Israel’s coastal city Tel Aviv is the world’s most expensive city to live in, a study published on Wednesday by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) found.

According to the data, soaring price increases contribute to the fastest cost of living rise in five years for city dwellers in Tel Aviv.

The EIU’s 2021 survey, which tracked the cost of living across 173 cities across the world, revealed that Tel Aviv rose from fifth place to the most expensive city to live in.

Data is compiled by comparing prices — in United States dollars — for goods and services in the surveyed cities.

Tel Aviv climbed the rankings partly due to the strength of the shekel against the US dollar, along with transportation and grocery prices.

Paris and Singapore tied for second, followed by Zurich and Hong Kong.

Damascus was ranked the world’s cheapest city to live in, as Iran’s capital Tehran saw the biggest jump from 79th to 29th place.

Transport costs rose most rapidly, mostly due to rising oil prices increasing the price of unleaded gasoline, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The Worldwide Cost of Living (WCOL) report noted that rankings continue to be sensitive to shifts spurred by the Covid pandemic.

“Many major cities are still seeing spikes in [Covid] cases, leading to social restrictions,” said Upasana Dutt, head of WCOL at EIU.

“These have disrupted the supply of goods, leading to shortages and higher prices,” she added, according to the Post.

Dutt added that the cost of living was expected to further rise in the coming year.