【英语生活】研究显示孟买生活成本全球最低

Indians might find this hard to believe, but a recent report labeled Mumbai and Delhi as two of the world’s cheapest major cities to live in.

Mumbai shares the title of the world’s cheapest city with Karachi, in Pakistan, according to the “Worldwide Cost of Living 2013” survey by the Economist Group’s Economic Intelligence Unit.

Delhi is right behind, at 129 on the list of 131 cities. After Delhi comes Algiers, Bucharest, Colombo and Panama City, the report says.

Income inequality is one of the reasons why India ranks low, the report says. Because per person spending is low in Indian cities and many people can’t afford expensive goods, there is a smaller increase in prices than in Western countries, the report says.

The study compared prices consumers pay for goods and services in “supermarkets, mid-priced stores and higher-priced specialty outlets.” The list includes food, clothing, household supplies, housing rent, transport and utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs, converting them into U.S. dollars. The cost of living index is calculated with New York as the base of 100.

The study found that Mumbai, with a cost of living index of 44, has one of the lowest average prices for a loaf of bread ($0.86) and a pack of 20 branded cigarettes ($1.79). In Tokyo, the most expensive city with a cost of living index of 152, the average price of loaf of bread is $9.06 while a pack of branded cigarettes is $5.57.

According to the report, the five most expensive cities in the world are Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, Sydney, Oslo and Melbourne.

The report found that Asia is home to more than half the world’s 20 most expensive cities. Six of the cheapest cities are also in Asia, it says.

Shreya Shah

Manish Swarup/Associated Press孟买
印度人或许会觉得难以置信，但最近的一份报告的确将孟买和德里列为全世界生活成本最低的两个大城市。

据经济学人集团(Economist Group)旗下经济学人智库(Economic Intelligence Unit)进行的“2013年全球生活成本”调查显示，孟买与巴基斯坦的卡拉奇并列全球生活成本最低的城市。

德里紧随其后，在131个城市中排名第129位。报告说，排在德里之后的是阿尔及尔（阿尔及利亚首都）、布加勒斯特（罗马尼亚首都）、科伦坡（斯里兰卡首都）和巴拿马城（巴拿马首都）。

报告说，印度排名很低的原因之一是收入不平等。报告说，由于印度城市的人均开支很低，许多人负担不起昂贵的商品，印度物价涨幅低于西方国家。

研究比较了消费者为“超市、中等价位商店和高价专业门店”的商品和服务所支付的价格。商品和服务的内容包括食品、服装、家居用品、房租、交通及水电费、私立学校、佣工以及娱乐休闲方面的开支，并将这些开支换算成美元。生活成本指数的计算以纽约为基数，纽约的指数为100。

研究发现，孟买生活成本指数为44，这里的一个面包平均价格0.86美元，一包20支装的品牌香烟平均价格1.79美元，在全球最低之列。物价最高的城市东京生活成本指数为152，一个面条平均价格9.06美元，一包品牌香烟价格为5.57美元。

报告显示，全球物价最高的五个城市是东京、大阪、悉尼、奥斯陆以及墨尔本。

报告发现，全球物价最高的20个城市有一半以上位于亚洲，六个物价最低的城市也在亚洲。

Shreya Shah

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