How is the living standard in Budapest compared to other capital cities in CEE? - UBS survey

http://www.portfolio.hu/en/cikkek.tdp?cCheck=1&k=2&i=14467

Thursday, 20, March 2008 04:02:00 PM

Purchasing power in Budapest is only the seventh largest among the 12 capital cities of Central and Eastern Europe, Swiss investment bank UBS said in its updated ‘Prices and Earnings' survey.

UBS carried out standardised price and earnings surveys in early 2006, comparing the prices of a basket of goods and services, wages, wage deductions and working hours, along with the resulting purchasing power, in 71 cities around the world.

Since then, there has been a dramatic shift in the relative values of currencies. And as exchange rates move, so do relative price levels around the world.

The new UBS study updates the detailed statistics on living costs from its 2006 survey to reflect most recent movements in exchange rates and inflation. The investment bank found that Oslo, London and Copenhagen remained the three most expensive cities and that Dublin has jumped to the fourth spot while in 2005 it was the 13th most expensive city UBS surveyed. Highest purchasing power was still awarded to Zurich.

Eastern European cities all rank in the lower half of our purchasing power ranking, as inflation has erased some of their strong wage gains. In a global comparison, net purchasing power is highest in Swiss cities and in Luxembourg. Berlin ranks high in terms of hourly purchasing power.

However, as is the case in many European cities, less time spent at work than in Asia or the US leaves the German capital only at the low end of the top one-third of our purchasing power ranking when we use yearly wages, UBS said.