01 July 2005
BEIRUT: Beirut, a new study says, is now the most expensive city in the Arab world.
The only city more expensive in the Middle East and North Africa region is Tel Aviv, Israel. Rapidly expanding finance hub Dubai is the eighth most expensive city. Beirut ranks number 52 in the world.
The cheapest major city in the Middle East and North Africa is Tehran, Iran, which ranks number 129 in the world out of 144 cities surveyed.
U.A.E. cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi have risen in the rankings due to a housing crunch that has pushed rents up.
Worldwide, the most expensive city is Tokyo and the cheapest Asuncion, Paraguay.
The study, by London-based Mercer Human Resource Consulting, considers cost of living factors such as utilities, transportation, rent, sport and leisure, restaurants, and alcohol and tobacco.
Compared to New York, the study's reference city, Beirut's prices are the highest in sports and leisure and unfurnished house renting.
Thanks to rising investment in real estate from the Gulf, a luxury apartment in Downtown Beirut can cost as much as $4 million.
High costs are also the constant lament of Lebanese businessmen, who say they can't compete with neighbors when electricity, telephone lines, and other utilities are vastly more expensive here.
"The prices continue to increase and we can't do anything about it," said Zuhair Berro, president of Consumer Lebanon. "Cellular costs are among the highest in the world. Electricity and water are the highest in the region."
At $0.44 a minute, Lebanon's pre-paid mobile phone rates are the highest in the Arab world. Electricity cost per kilowatt hour are more than three times the cost in neighboring Jordan and Syria.
Berro said he plans to submit a letter to the newly elected Parliament asking that reforms in key state-owned sectors such as electricity and telecommunications be accelerated.
"The government uses these services to expand their budget," Berro said. "We need competition in all the sectors."
