A new index estimates that in 2022, the cost of living has increased by 8.1% as a result of the pandemic and the Russian war in Ukraine.
According to the Worldwide Cost of Living Index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for this year, 2022 was in fact rather expensive.
According to a statement to the media from EIU’s head of global cost of living, Upasana Dutt, “The war in Ukraine, Western sanctions on Russia, and China’s zero-covid policies have caused supply-chain problems that, combined with rising interest rates and exchange-rate shifts, have resulted in a cost-of-living crisis across the world.” She also stated, “We can clearly see the impact in this year’s index, with the average price rise across the 172 cities in our survey being the strongest we’ve seen in the 20 years for which we have digital data. The rise in petrol prices in cities was particularly strong (as it was last year), but food, utilities and household goods are all getting more expensive for city-dwellers.”
How is the list made? The EIU creates the list by analysing more than 400 individual prices across more than 200 goods and services in 172 cities, according to CNN. They survey a variety of high- and low-end businesses to determine how much prices have changed in the last year.