Uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the EU has led London to lose its ranking as the sixth most expensive city in the world, falling to 24th place.
London is now 17 per cent cheaper than Paris and the cost of living is on a par with that of Dublin. London is also cheaper to live in than New York, for the first time in 15 years.
Jon Copestake, editor of the survey, said that the UK’s retail tourism sector and cross-border trade would benefit. “What is already happening to a degree is that the weak value of sterling has suddenly made London a much better value-for-money location internationally,” he said. “Beneficiaries will probably be big stores in London and e-commerce in the digital single market.”
Mr Copestake said that intense competition among British retailers, accompanied by low oil and commodity prices, had kept domestic price increases in check over the past few years, but rising import prices would mean that British shoppers would begin to notice higher inflation.
Visiting shoppers’ average expenditure in the UK increased by 11 per cent last year, compared with 2015, with shoppers from Taiwan accounting for the biggest increase — 42 per cent year on year in 2016.
More than 36 million overseas visitors came to the UK last year and spent $27 billion in total. Singapore remained the world’s most expensive city, according to the survey, with Asian cities accounting for five of the six most expensive in the world.
Zurich was the most expensive European city and ranked third overall, behind Singapore and Hong Kong. Paris was the only Eurozone city among the ten most expensive, while New York was the only North American city ranked among the top ten.
