The effects of the financial crisis and the depreciation of the Icelandic krona have been felt in many different ways – among them that Reykjavik is now ranked as one of the cheapest cities in Western Europe (for people other than Icelandic residents, of course).
British magazine The Economist conducts a yearly survey of how much it costs for non-locals to live in various cities around the world. There is usually little change to the rankings year-on-year, but the financial upheaval and consequent currency fluctuations which have engulfed the world over recent months have conspired to turn the list on its head.
Of the 132 cities around the world which The Economist includes in its survey, Reykjavik is now ranked in 67th place – down from fifth a year ago. Only one surveyed city in Western Europe is considered cheaper, and that is Manchester.
Because of the heavy fall in value of the British pound against the euro, British cities have uniformly dropped down the list. London was, for example, the 8th most expensive city last year but has since fallen to 27th.
The value of the Japanese yen has held up on the other hand, meaning that two Japanese cities now head the top of the list: Tokyo and Osaka.
Oslo was last year’s most expensive place to live; but has since slipped to 5th, behind both Paris and Copenhagen.
Most of the cheapest cities are in Asia, including the cheapest of all on the list: Karachi in Pakistan.
What the inaccurate paragraph about civilization has to do with cities cost of living?
[…] innerhalb eines Jahres unter 132 Städten weltweit vom 5. auf den 67. Platz gefallen. Siehe IceNews (auf […]
DURING THE TIMES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE THE ALPES WERE A NATURAL BARRIER IMPEDING MOST OF THE BARBARIANS FROM THE NORTH TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE SOUTH PART OF EUROPE. WHILE MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES WERE INVOLVED IN INTENSIVE CULTURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL EXCHANGE AND COMERCE WITH NATIONS LIKE EGIPT, MESOPOTAMIA, CARTAGO, AFRICAN EMPIRES, AND EVEN ASIAN COUNTRIES LIKE INDIA… NORDIC “TRIBES” WERE STILL LIVING IN A NEOLITHIC-LIKE SOCIETY AND ECONOMY.
WHILE IN THE SOUTH THEY WHERE BUILDING HUGE TEMPLES OF MARBLE STONE AND PERFECT ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING ROADS AND COMERCE LINES, PRACTICING PHILOSOPHY, MATHEMATICS, GEOMETRY, ASTRONOMY, ETC… IN THE NORTH PEOPLE WERE MOSTLY HUNTING AROUND AND SITTING AROUND A FIRE DURING THE COLD AND DARK WINTERS.
ROMANS BROUGHT CIVILIZATION TO ENGLAND AND GERMANY, BUT THEY DID NOT REACH MUCH NORTHER.. SCANDINAVIAN NATIONS HAD TO WAIT 1.000 YEARS MORE !! UNTIL THE ADOPTION OF CHRISTIANITY. THE LATIN ALPHABET AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY ONLY AVAILABLE IN SOUTHERN COUNTRIES.
SOUTHERN COUNTRIES HAVE CULTURALLY INHERITED A LONG TRADITION OF CIVILIZATION THAT IS NOT ONLY TO BE SEEN IN THE ARCHITECTURE, THE ARTS ( REMEMBER THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTIST OF THE HUMAN HISTORY ARE FROM SOUTHERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES: PICASSO, DALÍ, MICHELANGELO BUONNARROTI, LEONARDO DA VINCI, VELAZQUEZ, BOTICELLI, ETC…)
WE ARE THE BEGINNING OF THE WESTERN CIVILIZATION AND WE SET THE BASES FOR WHAT IS THE GLOBAL CULTURE TODAY.
EVERYTHING STARTED IN GREECE, THE LOGICS, THE SEPARATION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION, PRAGMATISM AND MITHOLOGY…
99% OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND CIENTIFIC CONCEPTS DERIVE FROM THE GREEK WORLD.
AND YES, YOU CAN SEE IT FROM MANY POINTS OF VIEW. STILL, IT IS MUCH CHEAPER TO LIVE IN CITIES LIKE REYKJAVIK THAN IN PLACES LIKE LONDON, BARCELONA OR MILANO…
YOU CAN SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT BUT YOU CAN GET MORE WITH 1.000 EUROS A MOTH IN REYKJAVÍK THAN IN ANY OTHER EUROPEAN CAPITAL
I wish it were true… My rent has not gone down, I can tell you that.
I think this crisis is much overrated.
GUS, don’t dare compare Milan and Scandic cities …. Someone already did that and you’ll able to see the results if you visit its clone (called Grønland in a well-known Nordic city).
Europe finishes when it encounters Alps not Caucaus/Pyrenees etc …. please destroy us!
Sorry Gus
mea culpa
It’s all about the currency when you think about it. (Yes the renting market has fallen this past few months but this is peanuts compared to the Króna plummeting value).
So, it got me thinking that this whole change in ‘most expensive city’ is a bit irrelevant.
Forgive me if I am mistaken but I suppose this survey is using USD has a reference. Now what kind of ranking they will come up with when the greenback is (let’s say) going to slump and bring a bucket of currency on its fall?
Again, I’m not 100% certain on how they score the city but one would agree that you measure the expensiveness of a city by the average salary a dweller is earning. In that sense, I don’t see how Reykjavík can rank from 5th to 67th?
@ GUS/ Sir Euoro
But only because the Icelandic government have created a rather high and artificial Krona value for tourists here in Iceland.
It could have been cheaper..
BUT HEY! ICELAND IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! AND YOU CAN GET IT AT A 60% DISCOUNT NOW!!
Jos said:
“Why do I have the impression that ASIAN ONE is the former GUS????”
I AM TELLING YOU JOS, THAT I HAVE NO REASON TO PLAY SUCH GAMES. I HAVE USED HERE TWO NAMES GUS ( FROM THE ICELANDIC BAND GUS GUS) AND SIR EURO. I HAVE NO PROBLEMS INTO POSTING ANYTHING I WANT HERE. IF I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING I SAY IT THE WAY I WANT AND FEEL. I DON´T NEED TO HIDE.
AND NOW, ABOUT REYKJAVIK BEING CHEAP:
WELL, IT REALLY IS CHEAP AS EVEN RENT HAVE BEEN GOING DOWN AS MANY PEOPLE HAVE LEFT REYKJAVIK LOOKING FOR JOBS IN THEIR HOME VILLAGES OR TOWNS AND ABROAD. ALSO MANY FOREIGNERS HAVE LEFT THE “CITY”. WE ARE NOT TALKING HERE ABOUT A CITY LIKE BARCELONA, LONDON, MADRID, PARIS, MILANO OR BERLIN. REYKJAVIK IS JUST A SMALL VILLAGE COMPARED WITH THOSE HUGE URBES.
REYKJAVIK IS SO CHEAP THAT YOU CAN RENT A VERY NICE FLAT HERE FOR THE SAME PRICE YOU WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR A 20M2 STUDIO WITHOUT WINDOWS AND AT THE WORST NEIGHBORHOOD OF CITIES LIKE BARCELONA, MADRID OR ANY OTHER EUROPEAN CAPITAL.
FOR EXAMPLE, ANOTHER CHEAP PLACE TO LIVE FOR EU CITIZENS NOW IS STOCKHOLM OR ANY OTHER SWEDISH CITY. ACTUALLY YOU CAN LIVE CHEAPER IN MOST OF SCANDINAVIAN CITIES THAN IN PLACES LIKE BARCELONA, MILANO OR PARIS.
GO TO BARCELONA, MILANO AND PARIS AND TRY TO RENT AN APARTMENT, AND THEN COMPARE ABOUT SITUATION (CENTER, SUBURBS, ETC…) AND KIND OF HOUSE,,, NOW CITIES IN SOUTHERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES CITIES LIKE BARCELONA, ARE MORE MODERN AND ADVANCED ( AND EXPENSIVE) THAN ANY SCANDINAVIAN CITY ( OR TOWN, LIKE REYKJAVÍK).
ONE WOULD SAY THEY LIKE TO LIVE IN REYKJAVÍK, I LIKE IT MYSELF, SPECIALLY BECAUSE HERE I PAY THE HALF OF THE RENT I WOULD PAY IN SPAIN FOR AN APARTMENT OF THE SAME SIZE…
Cheap? Doubtfully. Just compare the prices with the other Scandinavian cities. Cheap or not Reykjavik is one of the best places to live. As we noticed some of the “native” Icelanders have been economic emigrants in their own country for last 1000 years. Well, now they leave. Good bye!
Why do I have the impression that ASIAN ONE is the former GUS????
I don’t care if Reykjavik is cheapest or most expensive. I’m not going to change it to Karachi anyway 8-)
This is to you ASIAN ONE have you been to Iceland for your self or are you just froozen in your head. To label them rip off land don’t confuse your own country for that. I have lived in Bangkok, Manila and Reykjavik do you!!
and.. Pyongyang? man, are you for real?
ASIAN ONE, great thinker of modern times, has spoken.
Iceland is not the cheapest city its a rip off land using worthless currency we havemore exotic city bangkok,manila,beijing,pyongyang,jakarta nothing to eat in iceland nothing fresh only frozen food