According to the latest report by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living survey, Singapore, a city-state, ranked top on a list of the world’s most expensive cities.

The biannual report ranks 131 cities based on more than 400 different price indicators. The benchmark for comparisons is New York, and factors that are compared include the cost of food, utility charges, transport fees and educational costs.

“Singapore’s rise is partially attributable to the continued strength of the Singapore dollar, but the city has seen price rises too, which have no doubt been compounded by a reliance on imports,” Jon Copestake, editor of the EIU report, told Bloomberg.

As a city-state, Singapore is reliant on other countries for energy, water supplies and most of the goods sold in the city, making it the third-most expensive city in terms of utility costs, the report added.

The EIU report pointed out that car costs in Singapore are very high as certificate of entitlement fees are added to the cost of cars. Hence, the transport costs in Singapore are almost 3 times higher than in New York. Singapore is also the priciest place in the world to buy clothes.

Tokyo fell from the top of the list last year to sixth due to the weaker yen, EIU said.

Meanwhile, Seoul was ranked 17th, compared to New York at 26th.

By Ha Ji-won, Intern reporter (jiwonha@heraldcorp.com)