• Dubai is the most expensive city in the region including rents

  • In the Middle East, net wages are the highest in Manama

  • Manama workers also get the most paid vacation days in the world

  • Dubai is one of only four cities in the study where an average unfurnished three-bedroom apartment rents for more than 3,000 US dollars a month

Dubai, UAE - 17 September 2015

Today UBS is releasing the 16th edition of its UBS Prices and Earnings study, which examines prices, wages and earners' purchasing power in 71 cities worldwide. The study, published roughly every three years since 1971, compiles over 68,000 data points reflecting economic events that have shaped the world since the last edition in 2012.

The most expensive cities

Zurich, Geneva and New York City are the most expensive cities in the world, according to the prices for a standardized basket of 122 goods and services. Dubai is the most expensive city in the Middle least, when rents are included.

The highest housing costs

Dubai is one of only four cities in the study where an average unfurnished three-room apartment rents for more than 3,000 US dollars a month, namely USD 3,240. The others are London (USD 3,350), Hong Kong (USD 4,220), and New York (USD 4,320).

The highest wages

Workers in Zurich, Geneva and Luxembourg earn the highest gross wages. Manama workers earn the highest average net wages in the Middle East. In Nairobi, Jakarta and Kiev, the lowest-ranked cities, workers receive only around 5% of average gross earnings in Zurich.

How many hours' earnings buy a Big Mac® or an iPhone?

Wage value is best described by comparing domestic purchasing power for goods that are as homogenous as possible worldwide. Salaries go farthest in Luxembourg, Zurich and Geneva, where the net hourly wage buys the most goods and services from the standardized basket. Nairobi and Jakarta have the lowest purchasing power, affording just one-tenth as much as workers in Luxembourg. In Cairo, an iPhone 6 costs 353 hours' average earnings, longer than any other Middle Eastern city in the study.

Shortest working hours in Paris; Manama has the most paid vacation

People work over 2,000 hours per year in 19 major cities, most of them in Asia and the Middle East. The shortest working hours and highest number of days of paid vacation are enjoyed by workers in Western Europe. Workers in Hong Kong work 1,000 more hours than those in Paris, a difference of around four hours more per working day. Manama workers get the most paid vacation days in the world, with 34 days on average a year.

Impact of recent economic events

The Swiss National Bank abandoned its price floor for the euro versus the Swiss franc in January, which had a big impact on the indicators. Zurich and Geneva rose to the top of the rankings. Eurozone cities plunged. Russian and Ukrainian cities plummeted due to the Ukrainian conflict and ensuing Russian sanctions, with Kiev now at the bottom of the price and wage charts. Instability in South America greatly affected exchange rates, altering the positions of cities such as São Paulo and Buenos Aires. In Asia, the Japanese yen lost value, but the South Korean won has appreciated versus the US dollar since 2012, meaning Tokyo now ranks lower and Seoul higher. Asia remains the continent with the largest variations in prices and wages among cities, while North America is still the most uniform.

Prices and Earnings historical data now freely available

The 2015 edition of the Prices and Earnings study is available on a new microsite, www.ubs.com/pricesandearnings, which for the first time also offers free access to all raw data collected from the first report in 1971 up to 2015. Prices and Earnings is also available as an iOS application, and in a digital UBS Newsstand version.

-Ends-

UBS Prices and Earnings 2015: www.ubs.com/pricesandearnings
Further information on UBS Wealth Management's Chief Investment Office: www.ubs.com/cio
UBS Switzerland AG
Media contact
For general questions, or access to our data set, contact: sh-prices-earnings@ubs.com

Media contact
UBS Switzerland: +41-44-234 85 00
UAE                       :  Damian Brandy
FleishmanHillard
Damian.brandy@fleishmaneurope.com
www.ubs.com

© Press Release 2015