In fact, while Dubai ranks at #190 among the world's most expensive cities as ranked by the latest 2017 Numbeo Cost of Living Index, Abu Dhabi (#252) and Sharjah (#273) are stacked in the bottom half of the 484 cities ranked by the index.Regional Top 10 Most Expensive Cities
1. Kuwait City, Kuwait
2. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
3. Ad Dammam, Saudi Arabia
4. Doha, Qatar
5. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
6. Beirut, Lebanon
7. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
8. Amman, Jordan
9. Irbil, Iraq
10. Manama, Bahrain
Source: Numbeo
Numbeo is a global database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide, and the index calculates the ranking based on a range of costs, including rentals, groceries, travel, eating out and clothing, etc.
A quick look at the rankings of some of the other global expat hotspots will clear the air a bit more: The three UAE cities are much more affordable than, say, New York (#16) and San Francisco (#18) in the US, Kuwait City (#24) in Kuwait, Tokyo (#26) in Japan, Sydney (#41) and Perth (#42) in Australia, London (#68) in UK, Hong Kong (#86) and Doha (#222) in Qatar.
Dubai's rankings as an affordable city are impacted by higher rental values, with the emirate ranked as the #11 most expensive on the rent index, which forms a part of the overall calculations.Top 10 Most Expensive Cities
1. Hamilton, Bermuda
2. Geneva, Switzerland
3. Basel, Switzerland
4. Zurich, Switzerland
5. Zug, Switzerland
6. Lausanne, Switzerland
7. Bern, Switzerland
8. Lugano, Switzerland
9. Stavanger, Norway
10. Trondheim, Norway
Globally, Hamilton in Bermuda is officially the most expensive city, followed by seven cities in Switzerland that occupy slots from the second to the eighth most expensive city in the world. Norway's Stavanger and Trondheim round up the Global Top 10.