Numbeo.com, a global statistics website, recently released its global cost of living index (CoLI) in which it compares cities worldwide based on their scores in the index when benchmarked to New York City. It also provides the values of four other indices namely the Rent Index, the Groceries Price Index, the Restaurant Price Index, and the Local Purchasing Power Index for each city, always when benchmarked to the city of New York. According to Numbeo’s latest statistics, Hamilton (Bermuda) emerged as the most expensive city in the world with a Cost of Living index score of 142.10 followed by Basel (score of 127.00), Zurich (score of 120.80), Lausanne (score of 119.70) and Zug (score of 118.50). Hamilton’s CoLI value of 142.10 implies that prices in Hamilton are 42.10% more expensive than those in New York City. Regionally, Beirut was the most expensive Arab city on the 2023 Numbeo list with a CoLI value of 80.30, ranking 46^th globally, followed by Dubai (CoLI value of 65.30 and global rank 182) and Doha (CoLI value of 59.60 and global rank of 243).Therefore, prices in Beirut are 19.70% less expensive than those in New York City. Beirut also scored 20.70 in the Rent Price Index (implying that rent prices in Beirut are 79.30% less expensive than those in New York City), 91.40 in the Groceries Price Index (therefore prices of grocery items in Beirut are 8.60% lower than those in New York City), 48.60 in the Restaurant Price Index (implying restaurant prices in Beirut are 51.40% less expensive than in New York), and 10.10 in the Local Purchasing Power Index (meaning that the local purchasing power is 89.90% lower than that in New York City).

The historical evolution of the CoLI shows that prices in Beirut have generally been decreasing over the last couple of years before skyrocketing in the 2021 and 2022 indices as a result of the local economic & financial upheavals and the hyperinflationary environment which followed the drastic devaluation of the Lebanese pound against the US dollar.