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Dublin drops to 34th most expensive city

Wednesday, February 06 10:19:03

Dublin has dropped four places from 30th to 34th in the most expensive city rankings produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Dublin was ranked 16th most expensive city in the world during the height of the Celtic Tiger boom in 2006.

Tokyo has regained its position as the most expensive major city in the world, according to figures released today, while the ongoing financial crisis has pushed down the relative cost of living in the Eurozone.

Research by the Economist Intelligence Unit shows uncertainty surrounding the single currency has made it relatively cheaper to live in cities such as Frankfurt, Brussels and Dublin. London rose one position to joint 16th place.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce said Dublin's move from 30th to 34th place was an important signal that Dublin was regaining its competitiveness which will benefit the city in the attraction of multinationals and tourists alike.

Gina Quin, Dublin Chamber Chief Executive said "Dublin's latest ranking in the world cost of living survey is welcome news. In 2006, Dublin was ranked 16th most expensive city so this drop is important for us to communicate to international tourists and investors."

"For the tourism sector, this demonstrates that Dublin is offering good value for money for tourists looking for 'city breaks' or long haul visits. Ireland has seen a rise in the number of over overseas visitors to Ireland in the past year and this research coupled with the tourist VAT reduction should continue to help in the recovery of Ireland's tourism sector. While for multinationals, survey's like this are used to assess the competitiveness of international city regions against one another impacting on the decision to locate in Ireland or another country."

The Worldwide Cost of Living is a bi-annual (twice yearly) Economist Intelligence Unit survey that compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs.

Tokyo regained the title of the world's most expensive city, a ranking it first received in 1992 and has held on to for 17 of the past 23 years. Eight European cities were in the top 20 with the top 10 containing Oslo, Norway (4th) and Zurich, Switzerland (7th).

"We need to ensure that Dublin is offering a low cost and high quality of living in order to attract the most talented workers," said Ms Quin. "By reducing the barriers of moving here for the people that make businesses grow, Dublin can help drive economic and jobs growth in Ireland," concluded Ms Quin.