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 140.40 followed by Basel (score of 130.00), Zurich (score of 128.50), Lausanne (score of 120.60) and Zug (score of 119.10). Hamilton’s CoLI value of 140.40 implies that prices in Hamilton are 40.40% more expensive than those in New York City. Regionally, Dubai was the most expensive Arab city on the 2023 Numbeo list with a CoLI value of 66.10, ranking 189^th globally, followed by Al Khobar (CoLI value of 59.80 and global rank 261) and Abu Dhabi (CoLI value of 59.80 and global rank of 262). Beirut ranked 290^th globally and 6^th regionally in the index with a CoLI value of 54.00. Therefore, prices in Beirut are 46% less expensive than those in New York City. Beirut also scored 18.60 in the Rent Price Index (implying that rent prices in Beirut are 81.40% less expensive than those in New York City), 36.80 in the Groceries Price Index (therefore prices of grocery items in Beirut are 63.20% lower than those in New York City), 41.30 in the Restaurant Price Index (implying restaurant prices in Beirut are 58.70% less expensive than in New York), and 12.30 in the Local Purchasing Power Index (meaning that the local purchasing power is 87.70% lower than that in New York City).

The historical evolution of the CoLI shows that prices in Beirut have generally been increasing over the last couple of years 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. The CoLI value, however, dropped in mid-2023 amid the decline in the value of all covered indices (with the exception of the local purchasing power index).