Realistically speaking, if your city is successful, it’s going to cost you to live there.

Once something becomes prime property, it generally becomes the domain of the wealthy.

The results of a recently released survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) have revealed the most expensive cities in the world. Conversely, it’s also revealed the cheapest cities in the world, and we’ll be looking at both.

The EIU survey compares the costs of 160 products and services in 133 world cities.

Products include the cost of food, clothing, household supplies, rent, public transportation, utility bills, private schools, recreational and even how much it costs for maids and gardeners.

Oh, and it also compares the cost of a haircut, which according to BBC can cost up to $119 in Paris. That’s around R1 700 for a haircut.

Forbes notes that the majority of the top 10 cities are in Asia and Europe:

The 10 Most Expensive Cities in the World:

1. Singapore (Singapore)

1. Paris (France)

1. Hong Kong (China)

4. Zurich (Switzerland)

5. Geneva (Switzerland)

5. Osaka (Japan)

7. Seoul (South Korea)

7. Copenhagen (Denmark)

7. New York (US)

10. Tel Aviv (Israel)

10. Los Angeles (US)

The EIU looks at 50 000 individual prices in each survey.

A quick comparison of real estate of similar size and location shows that Tribeca, New York can be cheaper than the Chinatown district of Singapore. Based on sample listings in the area, a two bedroom, 1,100 square foot condo goes for around $2.02 million in Chinatown’s Altex Tian luxury residential tower. A similarly sized property at The Leonard in Tribeca with two bedrooms and two baths will run you a cool $2.3 million.

European cities tend to have the highest household, recreation, personal care and entertainment costs.

Which brings us to…

The 10 Cheapest Cities in the World:

1. Caracas (Venezuela)

2. Damascus (Syria)

3. Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

4. Almaty (Kazakhstan)

5. Bangalore (India)

6. Karachi (Pakistan)

6. Lagos (Nigeria)

7. Buenos Aires (Argentina)

7. Chennai (India)

8. New Delhi (India)

Inflation and currency fluctuations have contributed to the above list.

Caracas in Venezuela, where inflation neared 1,000,000% last year forcing the government to launch a new currency, was ranked the least expensive city in this year’s survey.

The price of a cup of coffee in the capital Caracas doubled to 400 bolivars ($0.62; £0.50) in the space of just a week last December, according to Bloomberg.

Cities are also becoming cheaper due to political or economic disruption.

In other words, if you’re looking to move, you might want to look for somewhere a little more middle of the range.

[sources:bbc&forbes]