LONDON – An eye-watering cost of owning a car in space-starved Singaporemeans the city state is the world’s most expensive place to live, for thefifth year in a row, a survey said on Thursday.

The Asian financial hub – where owning a no-frills sedan can set you backUS$76,000 – beat global capitals to the dubious title, despite stiffcompetition from resurgent European cities.

Pricey perennials Tokyo and New York did not even make the top 10 in theannual list by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), beaten out by Paris,Zurich (joint second) Hong Kong (fourth) and Oslo (fifth).

Seoul and Geneva shared sixth place, while Copenhagen, Tel Aviv and Sydneyrounded out the rankings.

Despite some perks to domestic life in Singapore – home help is cheap – theformer British colony “remains the most expensive place in the world to buyand run a car,” EIU said.

Singapore has avoided Asia’s massive traffic jams by controling vehicleownership through a quota system under which a buyer must pay for aCertificate of Entitlement – currently nearly Sg$40,000 ($30,500) – on topof the vehicle’s actual price.

That means a basic sedan comes with a Sg$100,000 price tag.

Asian cities tend to be most expensive for grocery shopping, while Europecomes out tops in household, personal care, recreation and entertainment,the survey said.

Currency fluctuations remain a major cause for the changes in the rankings,with the weaker US dollar keeping American cities out of the top 10.

War-wracked Damascus, the troubled Venezuelan capital Caracas, Lagos inNigeria and the Pakistani city of Karachi are among the world’s cheapestcities, the survey showed.

As per the survey, South Asian cities, particularly those in India andPakistan offers the best value for money. Bangalore, Chennai, Karachi andNew Delhi featured among the 10 cheapest locations surveyed.

“Put simply, cheaper cities also tend to be less liveable,” it said. -Agencies