London Remains Popular Destination Despite High Living Costs

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(Free-Press-Release.com) April 8, 2008 -- “You have to ask yourself why so many people still choose London as a destination of choice despite the high cost of living compared to the rest of the world” said Clifford, Director of the UK’s largest immigration and visa agency. “Our clients tell us that London has certain panache about it, something that you can’t explain but can only experience”.

Ever increasing inflation has caused the cost of living worldwide to rise greatly in the past decade. Global Visas, the visa and immigration authority with offices worldwide, investigates the differences in living costs around the world.

When contemplating moving to another country or planning an overseas trip, the cost of living factor is a major issue. Although the cost of living in certain countries is higher than others, there are also great differences from city to city.

According to Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent at the Independent newspaper, as much as 15% of a family’s income goes to buying food stuffs and paying for services; that is an average of £456 a week going to costs such as food, bills and taxes.

In the United Kingdom, food inflation has reached 6.6% in the past year with meat prices rising 7.8% and milk products at 15.4%. This affects the man on the street whose bulk income goes to buying basic supplies.

Certain countries are, however, cheaper to live in than others. Food costs in a country like South Africa is relatively less than that in the United Kingdom, with fresh fruit and vegetables being excessively cheaper as these fresh products are in surplus due to local farming and ideal climactic conditions. A budget of just R2000 (£129) is sufficient when buying groceries for a month for two people, an average bill of £60 is spend on groceries in a week in England.

It is also clear that prices are dependant on city. For example Brisbane, Australia is more expensive than the city of Perth. A loaf of bread will cost AUS$2.70 (£1.26) in Brisbane, compared to just AUS$1.48 (about 70p) in Perth. However this loaf of bread costs US$2.50 (£1.30) in major US cities such as Boston and New York.

New Zealand and its major cities are seen as one of the cheapest options in relation to quality of life. The last World Competitiveness Yearbook, published in 2004, showed a basket of food would cost £31 in New Zealand, £31.42 in Australia and £41.13 in the United Kingdom.

New Zealand cities have also constantly ranked as cheap when it comes to the Cost of Living Survey.

According to James Mac Anally an Australian Immigration Lawyer and Branch manager for upcoming Global Visas Australia, “Compared with Sydney or London, the cost of living in Auckland, New Zealand, is considered much cheaper yet the quality of living is also very high,” he said, highlighting the fact that the city of Auckland was ranked as the eighth best city in the world for quality of life, tied with Sydney, Bern and Copenhagen.

Based on the last Cost of Living Survey 2007, Moscow ranks as the world’s most expensive city with London coming in second. Despite this, London still remains a popular choice for students and school leavers. A cup of coffee in London will cost £2, whereas it will set you back £3.14 in Moscow. However this same cup of coffee will cost you just £1.4 in Auckland, New Zealand.

The quality of life and inevitable cost does however depend on salary and comfort priorities, nevertheless it is clear that although constantly rising, food prices differ greatly depending on your destination.

Global Visa’s provides the resources to find where the easiest place to live in financially will be and why.

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