Cost of Living in Singapore

I was reading an article this morning on CNA with the headline “Not all blame is on Sistic”, and I came across a line in the article which I was interesting.

“All said, ticket charges are still lower in Singapore than New York or the United Kingdom, according to Mr Liew, who has been in the business for more than 25 years.”

One thing I have realized is that, on many levels, we have been comparing Singapore with many developed cities. I did some research, to see how we fare against other countries.

The following data is taken from the UBS Prices and Earnings Survey 2009, and the Mercer Survey 2009

1) Price Levels
Price levels refer to the Cost of Living in the city. New York is the default with 100 points.
Excluding rent, Singapore comes in 2nd for cities in Asia, with a score of 82. Tokyo is the most expensive city to live in with a score of 102. If rent is factored in, Singapore comes in 3rd, with Hongkong 2nd behind Tokyo.

2) Wage Earnings
Wage Earnings refer to the average take home income of employees, after taxes.
Here, there is a stark difference in the wages of Asian cities. Likewise, New York is the default with 100 points
Tokyo has the highest wage levels in, with a score of 83. The next cities in Asia are Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, and Singapore. Singapore comes in with a score of 31.

3) Big Mac and Ipod Index
The Big Mac index refers to the number of minutes an average employee needs to work to purchase a Big Mac, and the Ipod Index refers to the number of hours an average employee needs to work to purchase an 8gb Ipod Nano.
The importance of this index is to quantify the purchasing power of the employees.
If we look at this, Singapore scores pretty badly on the Big Mac Index, needing more minutes as compared to all other Asian countries, with the exception of Kuala Lumpur. On the Ipod Index, Singapore moves up a slot, with Shanghai employees needing to work the longest hours. However, one point needs to be kept in mind, is that the cost of branded electronics in Shanghai is extremely high.

4) Rental Housing
The cost of rental for a 3 room apartment that is unfurnished is approximately 2,940 USD. This refers to apartments that are near the city center, not suburban housing. This is approximately the same as an apartment in Chicago. New York and Hong Kong have the highest average rent of 5,220 USD and 4,070 USD per month.

5) City Infrastructure and Quality of Living
Singapore comes in 1st for City Infrastructure, ahead of Munich, Copenhagen, Tsubaka and Yokohama. In the Quality of Living Index, Singapore comes in at 26th, and is ranked top among Asian countries.

I believe that comparisons to New York and London are usually baseless, as the Purchasing Power of Singaporeans is much lower as compared to those cities. With that being said, Singapore has a high quality of life and the city infrastructure is great. I mean after all have you seen the amount of smog covering the skyline of Hong Kong at certain times of the year?

This information is just a general outlook on how we stand as a city. It is not an attempt to put down Singapore or to ask for an increase in pay from my CEO.