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<\/p>\nMelbourne is the world’s most expensive city for cigarettes and beer, with Sydney following in second place, a new report has found.<\/p>\n
The Mapping the World’s Prices report, published by Deutsche Bank, compares cost-of-living data in 69 cities across six continents, with Sydney and Melbourne being the two Australian cities included on the list.<\/p>\n
It compared data year-on-year from 2025 to 2026, as well as changes over the last decade.<\/p>\n
To create the report, Deutsche Bank cross-checked data from Numbeo, an online database that collates crowd-sourced information on cost of living, property prices and quality of life around the world.<\/p>\n
The report maps out prices for expenses including rent, utility bills, mortgages, restaurant meals, gym memberships, petrol, groceries, clothing and even cappuccinos.<\/p>\n
Here’s how Australian cities compared to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
World’s costliest smokes and beers<\/p>\n
Australia’s steep sin taxes make Melbourne and Sydney the most expensive cities in the world for beers and cigarettes, the report suggests.<\/p>\n
Melbournians are paying 89 per cent more for five beers and two packs of cigarettes than a decade ago, and Sydneysiders 82 per cent more.<\/p>\n
The two cities also top the list for the cost of a 20-pack of cigarettes \u2014 the price in Sydney has gone up by 130 per cent in the last decade, and by 123 per cent in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
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The report found Melbourne to be the most expensive city in the world to have a domestic beer. (ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton)<\/p>\n
And for those wanting to enjoy a half-litre bottle of domestic beer, Melbourne is the most expensive city in the world, with Sydney coming third after second-placed Singapore.<\/p>\n
Sin taxes are a highly effective public health measure to deter people from smoking, says Professor Coral Gartner from the University of Queensland.<\/p>\n
“There’s no doubt that the tax has encouraged people to quit smoking,” Dr Gartner says.<\/p>\n
“Some of our research has found that the price of tobacco products has become the main reason that people were quitting smoking or trying to quit smoking.”<\/p>\n
According to new survey data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, fewer Australians smoke than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
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