April 2014 has seen Oslo, Norway jumping
ahead of both Zurich and Geneva to become the most expensive European city for
expats in this region and the world.
The latest rankings saw Oslo move from seventh in the last quarter to third, while Zurich fell
from first among the World’s most expensive cities in mid-2013 to sixth.
The one similarity between the cities of Oslo, Zurich and Geneva is that despite being part of the European continent, they are neither part of the
European Union nor part of the European Economic Community. This means that Norway like Switzerland is free to
set its own economic policies, it can therefore maintain aggressive tax rates to fund social
programs. It also actively pursues social objectives through taxes on tobacco,
alcohol and gasoline.
Although Norway has high wage rates, it also has a high cost of living as well as high taxes. There is very little difference between the
lowest paid 10% of workers and the highest paid 10%, wages for restaurant workers, teachers, service people and unskilled labor are
high enough for most workers to live comfortably. This concept of a living wage is highly ingrained within the Norwegian Social Value system, but allows every "class" of citizen to have a good standard of living.
Xpatulator.com
provides up-to-date cost of living data for over 700 locations worldwide.
Top Ten City Rankings for Europe
For the full cost of living rankings for Europe go here.
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