10 of the most expensive cities in the world for wine

The Economist has released its annual Worldwide Cost of Living 2018 report, revealing the most expensive cities in the world, and  the cost of a bottle of wine there, with drastic variations between the top 10 cities.

In its 2018 Cost of Living index, The Economist Intelligence Unit compares more than 50,000 individual prices across 160 products and services including categories like food, drink, clothing, household supplies, rent, transport, and utility bills.

Prices are surveyed in the off-trade, analysing supermarkets, mid-priced stores and higher-priced speciality outlets to determine an average.

“Prices gathered are then converted into a central currency (US dollars) using the prevailing exchange rate and weighted in order to achieve comparative indices.”

In 2018, the world’s most expensive city overall is, for the fifth year running, Singapore.

However within their report, the team details how much a bottle of table wine (750 ml) costs throughout the world’s top 10 most expensive cities, with the prices varying from $3.35 to $28.77, giving an insight into where your cash will stretch furthest.

Within the top 10 most expensive cities, listed below in ascending order, the cost of a bottle of wine varies by $20, with three Asian cities making the top five.

In nearly all cities, with the exception of Singapore where the cost of a bottle of wine did not change from 2017 to 2018, wine prices in these cities rose across the board from the previous year.

Paris saw the biggest increase, with the cost of a bottle of wine rising by 15% in 2018 compared with 2017. Oslo meanwhile has seen a significant drop in the cost of a bottle of wine, when comparing the average price over a 10-year period.

The 10 most expensive cities in the world based on overall cost of living. Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit – Worldwide Cost of Living 2018

Click through to see the top 10 most expensive cities in the world to buy a bottle of wine…

Source: The Economist Cost Intelligence Unit – Worldwide Cost of Living 2018, based on the average US$ price for one bottle of table wine (750ml).

10. Geneva

Current: $8.37  (£6.43)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 2.07%

Last year: $8.20

5 years: $8.19

10 years: $7.62

9. Paris

Current: $11.90 (£9.15)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 15%

Last year: $10.35

5 years: $9.45

10 years:  $7.83

8. Copenhagen

Current: $13.28 (£10.21)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 3.2%

Last year:  $12.87

5 years: $12.03

10 years: $9.74

7. Oslo

Current: $13.70 (£10.53)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 5.4%

Last year:  $13.00

5 years: $17.58

10 years: $16.28

6. Zurich

Current: $15.89  (£12.21)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 12.1%

Last year: $14.17

5 years: $16.74

10 years: $11.34

5. Hong Kong

Current: $16.16 (£12.42)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 2.8%

Last year:  $15.72

5 years: $13.83

10 years:  $11.55

4. Sydney

Current: $20.49 (£15.75)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 7%

Last year: $19.15

5 years: $25.38

10 years: $17.87

3. Singapore

Current: $23.68 (£18.20)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 0%

Last year: $23.68

5 years: $25.65

10 years: $20.77

2. Seoul

Current: $27.02 (£20.77)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 1.8%

Last year: $26.54

5 years: $22.34

10 years: $26.27

1. Tel Aviv

Current: $28.77 (£22.11)

PERCENT INCREASE YOY: 3.6%

Last year: $27.76

5 years: $28.36

10 years: $16.46