Is living inAustralia expensive?

ARE you alwayscomplaining about how expensive things are in Australia compared to the rest ofthe world?

Well, the fourth addition of the Deutsche Bank report intoworld prices is out and it provides an interesting insight into our hip pocket.

By analysing the cost of certain goods in every country suchas a Big Mac, pair of Levi jeans and an iPhone, the report showed just how muchmore expensive it is to shop in Australia compared to the rest of the world.But it might not be as much as you think.

A key finding of this year’s survey is the extent to whichexchange rate movements impacted prices. In previous years, Australia hadconsistently been the world’s most expensive developed country while the UnitedStates had been the cheapest developed country. This year, however, thestrength of the US dollar has significantly narrowed the gap between the two.

Meanwhile, India remains the cheapest major economy in theworld while shopping in Europe and Japan now feels a lot cheaper than before.

A popular metric is the Big Mac barometer which shows thecheapest place to buy the famous burger. That illustrious honour went to theUkraine this year at $1.20 USD closely followed by Russia at $1.36 USD. Youwon’t want to satisfy your Macca’s craving in Switzerland since a single burgerwill set you back $7.54 USD. For the record, a Big Mac in Australia is $4.32USD.

For a quick weekend getaway, Sydney, Paris and London remainthe most expensive due to high hotel room rates while Mumbai and Delhi are thecheapest. Tokyo, Ottawa and Toronto were also found to be surprisinglyattractive.

Indian cities are also the cheapest places to go out on adate. Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro were also found to be reasonably priced.Despite Yen depreciation, Tokyo is still an expensive place for a date as areWellington and San Francisco.