For a split second, topping the list as the least expensive place to live in the world, Karachi might seem to be the place for the bargain hunters. But the next second, all of it seems delusional as another dozen are gunned down leaving the city to continue bleeding.
In its latest issue of bi-annual survey on the worldwide cost of living, the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked the largest metropolis as the least expensive city on the globe along with Mumbai of India.
Among the top 10 cheapest cities cited in the survey, six belong to Asia and five to the South Asia described as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. They all have one common feature: income inequality and low consumer spending which has kept prices low compared to western counterparts, certainly not a good point to brag about.
Besides the large population keeping income inequality high, the law and order situation in Pakistan is a dominant feature that puts off those looking for a bargain. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Algeria and Iran all feature in the bottom 10, but have had well documented security issues or domestic unrest says the survey.
On the other hand, India along with its income disparity is poised for growth while those that can come in the attractive category of cheap cost of living in a stable environment include the other members of 10 least expensive cities: Bucharest of Romania, Panama City, and Jeddah of Saudi Arabia.
On the flip side, where Asian countries fared well in their representation to offer cheap living, it was also found to be home to over half of the worlds 20 most expensive cities. Tokyo regained the top familiar position amongst the most expensive cities to live in and Osaka followed the suite amid rising prices all around the world, weakening yen and Japanese deflation.
Others that joined the most expensive league unsurprisingly were Geneva and Zurich from Switzerland, Sydney and Melbourne from Australia, Singapore and Paris. What came as a surprise was the Venezuelan city, Caracas among the 10 most expensive cities. This came at against a backdrop of the citys official inflation reaching to about 20 percent.
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The top 10 least expensive cities
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1 Pakistan Karachi
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2 India Mumbai
3 India New Delhi
4 Nepal Kathmandu
5 Algeria Algiers
6 Romania Bucharest
7 Sri Lanka Colombo
8 Panama Panama City
9 Saudi Arabia Jeddah
10 Iran Tehran
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Source: EIU - Worldwide Cost of Living 2013