With wine costing $25 a bottle, it's no surprise that Singapore is the world's costliest city

With wine costing $25 a bottle, it&#039;s no surprise that Singapore is the world&#039;s costliest city

(Image credit: Flickr CC By: Arian Zwegers)

last updated 8 January 2015

If you have unlimited amounts of cash falling out of your pockets, Singapore is the place to be. The Economist Intelligence Unit released its twice yearly "Worldwide Cost of Living" survey today and named the Asian metropolis as the world's most expensive city of 2014. The study uses a combination of data, including food, utilities, alcohol, and education costs in crafting its 131-city list.

Singapore, which usurped Tokyo from the top spot, earned the title due to its rising alcohol and transportation costs. A bottle of wine costs $25 in Singapore — that's more than double what it costs in Tokyo. The EIU blames a weaker yen for Tokyo's dip in the rankings. Paris, Oslo, Zurich, and Sydney round out the top five, with no American city ranking in the top 10. On the other end of the spectrum, Mumbai was named the world's cheapest city.

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.