These 2 Indian Cities are Among the Cheapest in the World, Says Report

The two Indian metros rank along with Sofia in Bulgaria, Prague in the Czech Republic, Bucharest in Romania and Kiev in Ukraine as the cheapest of 71 locations compared around the world.

New York city is the most expensive, followed by Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland, Oslo in Norway, London and Hong Kong, according to the prices for a standardized basket of 122 goods and services, including rent.

Mumbai and Delhi are also among the cities with the lowest average wages. The others are Cairo in Egypt, Jakarta in Indonesia, Nairobi in Kenya and Kiev.

Mumbai rates higher on an index for purchasing power than Delhi, but just about. The two cities are near the bottom of this table too, with only Cairo, Manila, Kiev, Nairobi and Jakarta below them.

People in Zurich, Geneva, New York City, Luxembourg and US' Miami earn the highest wages, the UBS report says.

Paris has the shortest working hours. Workers in Western Europe enjoy the shortest working hours and highest number of days of paid vacation.

People work over 2,000 hours per year in 19 major cities, most of them in Asia and the Middle East. Workers in Hong Kong work 1,000 more hours than those in Paris, a difference of around four hours more per working day, the report says.

Seoul in South Korea is the second-costliest city for food. Haircuts cost 19 times more in Oslo than in Jakarta, says UBS.

UBS said that the decision in January by the Swiss National Bank to abandon its cap of 1.20 francs per euro, leading to a surge in the franc's value, had hugely altered the indicators, with Zurich and Geneva rising to the top of the rankings and Eurozone cities plunged, UBS says.

It says Russian and Ukrainian cities plummeted due to the Ukrainian conflict and the Russian sanctions that followed pushing Kiev to the bottom of the price and wage charts. Instability in South America greatly affected exchange rates, altering the positions of cities such as Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, it said.