Phnom Penh’s cost of living tumbled relative to other global cities, EIU says

Phnom Penh’s cost of living tumbled relative to other global cities in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual survey. The Cambodian capital fell 21 places to 92 in the 173-strong list. It scored 66 points with New York as the base city with 100 points. Parts of Asia still proved pricey with Singapore’s cost of living the second highest in the world alongside Paris and behind only Tel Aviv in the survey. It scored 104 points. Two other Asian cities made the top 10 in the World Cost of Living Index. Hong Kong was fifth, scoring 101 points. Japan’s Osaka ranked tenth with 94 points. The index tracks the prices of more than 200 goods and services. The EIU found the inflation rate of the prices tracked was the fastest in the past five years. It headed higher than pre-pandemic levels to 3.5 percent year-on-year in local-currency terms, compared with 1.9 percent in 2020 and 2.8 percent the year earlier. “Supply-chain problems, as well as exchange-rate shifts and changing consumer demand, have led to rising prices for commodities and other goods. The most rapid increases in the WCOL index were for transport, with the price of a litre of petrol up by 21 percent on average,” the EIU said. Property prices are not included in the index calculation but the EIU says they have also risen, especially in residential areas. It said the main reason for inflation was the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic. “Although most economies are now recovering as Covid-19 vaccines are rolled out, the world’s major cities still experience frequent surges in cases, prompting renewed social restrictions,” the EIU said. “In many cities this has disrupted the supply of goods, leading to shortages and higher prices.” The data were collected from mid-August to mid-September when shipping prices between the US and China had risen sharply pushing up the price of goods. “Fluctuating consumer demand has also influenced purchasing habits, while investor confidence has affected currencies, further fuelling price rises,” the EIU said. An extra 40 cities were added since the previous survey, including 11 in China. The EIU is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper. This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources. Khmer Daily