A report on purchasing power and prices reinforces the idea of Switzerland as an expensive place, and surprisingly that Asia's big cities aren't as costly as might first seem.

Anyone who has had a haircut or bought a coffee in Zurich will have winced at the prices recently although the affluent locals don't have to toil for as long to pay for these services as in developing nations, a new UBS ranking of prices and purchasing power shows.

A sample haircut for women costs $94.32 in Zurich (Switzerland), compared to $22.60 in Kiev (Ukraine), $12.17 in Mexico City and $7.50 in Cairo (Egypt). But the devil is in the detail: while a woman in Zurich typically only has to work 3.05 hours to afford this service, the same expenditure requires 12.09 hours of work in Kiev, 5.86 hours in Mexico City and 6.11 hours in Cairo.

The findings come in UBS Global Wealth Management’s Chief Investment Office. The study, first launched in 1971 and now in its 17th edition, compares 128 prices of various goods and services as well as average living costs of 15 professions representing the average working population. A total of 77 cities are tracked.

The study’s Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Index, residents of European and North American cities typically enjoy the best buying power overall, with Bahrain’s capital Manama and Hong Kong the only non-transatlantic contenders in the Top Ten. Global financial capitals New York and London rank 10th and 23rd respectively.

"As in our previous edition, Zurich tops the list as the world’s most expensive city, closely followed by Swiss rival Geneva. However, our Purchasing Power Parity Index clearly indicates that we are beginning to see stronger competition from overseas with only three European cities left in our Top Ten, all of which lost ground compared to the report’s 2015 edition," Daniel Kalt, Chief Economist and Chief Investment Officer for Switzerland, UBS Global Wealth Management, said.

Details
For purchasing power, where New York City has an index level of 100.0, the highest score is by Los Angeles, at 123.9, followed by Zurich, at 122.5, and then Miami, at 121.7. For pricing, the most expensive is Zurich, at 116.8, and then fellow Swiss city Geneva, at 113.4. (NYC again has a base reference of 100.)

In pricing terms, London is outside the top five, at 9th (92.9), and Tokyo is sixth, at 99.5.

Oddly, for reasons this publication seeks to establish, Singapore was not shown in the purchasing power, earnings or pricing rankings. In Hong Kong's case, it was 33rd out of the 77 places for prices, and ninth for purchasing power.

The figures may shed light on why job recruiters for banks can struggle to acquire talent when living costs bite into even the most competitive salaries.