Living everywhere is getting more and more expensive, as almost everything has become more expensive, from fuel, food, restaurants and other services.

Numbeo, the world's largest cost database, has released its 2023 cost of living index.

The cost of living index (excluding rent) is a relative measure of the prices of consumer goods, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities. The cost of living index does not include accommodation expenses such as rent or mortgage.

This index is calculated relative to New York City (NYC). Which means that for New York City, every index must be 100(%).

If a city has a Cost of Living Index of 120, that means Numbeo has estimated it to be 20% more expensive than New York (excluding rent).

The most sacred cities in Europe are in Switzerland. Basel leads the ranking with an index of 127% (27% more expensive than the New York average), followed by Zurich (120.8), Lausanne (119.7), Zug and Bern, also in Switzerland.

The cities of the Nordic countries are also expensive, with the Norwegian ones holding the record, such as Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen, followed by Iceland and Denmark.

In France, the most expensive city is Nice, but it is still cheaper than New York (77). For Paris, the indicator is 76.1.

In Italy, the most expensive is Milan (73.6), followed by Florence (66.7), Bologna (66.2), Rome (66.1).
Greece is among the cheapest in Western Europe. For Athens, the index is 59.8 and for Thessaloniki 55.8.

Tirana and Belgrade the most expensive in the region, Pristina the cheapest

In the capitals of the region, the cost of living is on average less than 50% of that of New York.

But, within the region, the most expensive is Belgrade, with 42.4% of the New York average.

Even Tirana is no longer cheap, by the standards of the region, being ranked after Belgrade, with 41%. Compared to the previous year, when the index was 38.7 for the Albanian capital, Tirana turns out to have become more expensive.

For Podgorica, the index is cheaper than in the Albanian capital, at 38.2, while Budva, a coastal area, has an indicator of 41.6 (slightly higher than Tirana).

The cheapest in the region is Skopje - North Macedonia (36.8), while Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina have favorable prices (38.6).

The cheapest in the region and among the cheapest in Europe is Prishtina (29.9).

In Europe, the three cheapest cities, ranked only after Pristina, are in Ukraine: Odessa (Odesa), Lviv, Kharkiv.

(Source: Monitor)