Cost of Living in Taipei Down ... WAY DOWN!

A new survey of the costliest cities to live in Moscow has topped again for the second year in a row.

What was remarkable was that,
"Eight Asian cities made the top 50, though Taipei, Taiwan, plunged 20 places to No. 48."
msnbc

So what does this mean? Well it's cheap to buy the necessities of life in Taipei. Would anyone really argue with this? I mean, fast food is dirt cheap at between NT$50 and NT$120. Taxi rides are a song, the meter starting at NT$70. The minimum fare for a bus ride is NT$16.

Having fun here is super cheap too. The Palace Museum is a paltry NT$160. NT$60 for Taipei Zoo! Imagine that!

I can also remember telling my parents about our house loan that currently hovers around a rate of 2%. Canada's mortgage rates is hovering around 7%!!!

Is there some deeper meaning to Taipei's drop in costliness? Well, you might be able to argue that it has something to do with current currency exchange rates making goods cheaper. However, it could be due to Taipei losing its edge in desirability amongst the other cities.

People living here in Taipei of course know better. The city services and feel have improved a lot since the 1990s. Locals like to throw around the word 'convenient'. Convenient and cheap, fun, easy and affordable, all these come to mind. We love Taipei for all these reasons!

I include the results of the survey for your perusal...

The 50 priciest cities in the world, according to the cost of items including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment:

1. Moscow 2. London 3. Seoul, South Korea 4. Tokyo 5. Hong Kong 6. Copenhagen, Denmark 7. Geneva 8. Osaka, Japan 9. Zurich, Switzerland 10. Oslo, Norway 11. Milan, Italy 12. St. Petersburg, Russia 13. Paris 14. Singapore 15. New York 16. Dublin, Ireland 17. Tel Aviv, Israel 18. Rome 19. Vienna, Austria 20. Beijing 21. Sydney, Australia 22. Helsinki, Finland 23. Stockholm, Sweden 24. Douala, Cameroon 25. Amsterdam, Netherlands 26. Madrid, Spain and Shanghai, China 28. Kiev, Ukraine 29. Athens, Greece 30. Almaty, Kazakhstan 31. (tie) Barcelona, Spain 31. (tie) Bratislava, Slovak Republic 33. Dakar, Senegal 34. Dubai, United Arab Emirates 35. Abidjan, Ivory Coast 36. Glasgow, United Kingdom 37. Lagos, Nigeria 38. Istanbul, Turkey 39. Munich, Germany 40. Frankfurt, Germany 41. Birmingham, United Kingdom 42. Los Angeles 43. Luxembourg 44. Brussels, Belgium 45. (tie) Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 45. (tie) Berlin 45. (tie) Dusseldorf, Germany 48. Taipei, Taiwan 49. Prague, Czech Republic 50. Algiers, Algeria

Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting