Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi is one of the ten cheapest cities in the world when it comes to expenditures related to foods, transportation, health and other basic necessities, said a report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Karachi ranked 44 compared with the base city.
According to the survey findings, Karachi’s rank improved five notches from the last survey.
The Worldwide Cost of Living 2016 survey, comparing the price of a weighted basket of goods across 133 cities worldwide, put the Pakistan’s industrial hub at the 127 rank this year.
“While it is clear that oil markets remain oversupplied, there are reasons to believe that there could be a slight rebound in prices in 2016,” the report said.
The EIU, which conducts this survey twice yearly, compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services, including food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs. All cities are compared with a base city of New York, which has an index set at 100.
“The fall in the oil price in 2015 and early 2016 will put downward pressure on emerging and oil producing countries’ currencies, which will have a significant impact on pricing,” the EIU forecast. “On the one hand, falling oil prices will drive down inflation for goods and incomes for exporting countries.”
The report showed that Almaty of Kazakhstan, Algiers of Algeria and Chennai of India gained the same ranking as Karachi in the latest survey. Three other cities of India, including Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi were also found as the top ten cheapest countries in the world.
The ranking saw the 16 US cities surveyed climb up the ranking by an average of 18 places with New York and Los Angeles featuring among the ten most expensive cities for the first time since 2002.
Singapore retains its title as the world’s most expensive city for a third year in a row, but its lead over the next two cities in the ranking has nearly evaporated.
Zurich and Hong Kong follow closely in joint second place, with Hong Kong climbing seven places up the ranking in the last 12 months.
London, New York and Los Angeles also move up the ranking to 6th, 7th and 8th place, respectively, displacing Sydney, Melbourne and Oslo from the ten most expensive cities.