Dubai most expensive city for services
25 August 2009
New research by investment bank UBS has shown that Dubai is most expensive city in the world when it comes to buying in a range of services, Arabian Business reports.
In its survey of 73 cities globally, the cost of buying a basket of 27 services in the emirate, including haircuts, phone charges, dry cleaning, movie tickets and restaurant meals was higher than the likes of London and New York.
The total cost of services, which also included DSL internet, training and continuing education courses and tickets for a variety of leisure activities was $890, compared to the global average of just $503.
The other Gulf cities included in the survey - Doha and Manama - saw service costs of $620 and $450 respectively. Overall, Dubai was ranked 19th in the list of the world's most expensive cities, a ranking topped by Oslo, Zurich and Copenhagen. Doha was ranked 38th out of the 73 cities while Manama came 46th.
In its comparison of property rents, Dubai was one of the most expensive places to lease an unfurnished 3-bed apartment. Dubai’s most expensive rent of $4,930 was almost double that of Doha ($2,560) and more than twice that of Manama ($2,430). However it still compared favourably to the most expensive rents in Hong Kong (up to $11,280) and New York (up to $9,730).