Uh-oh millennials: London is now the second-priciest city in the world for avocados
The average price of goods overall has dropped in London since Brexit, but avocados will still set you back big time, according to a new study of global cities by wealth manager UBS.
The UBS Prices and Earnings report compares the cost of living in 77 cities worldwide, and this year found that Zurich is the world's most expensive city followed by Geneva and Oslo.
However, London is now the second priciest city for purchasing avocados behind Zurich, with three avocados costing on average $7.33 (£5.50) in the UK capital.
But although avo toasts may be taking up precious mortgage savings, the capital is no longer the most expensive city in Europe to rent. In 2015, London had the highest average rent of all European capitals, but this year, Paris has taken top spot.
The cost for an average shopping basket in London has also declined since 2015 and is no longer the most expensive on the list.
It dropped from $567.9 in 2015 to $521.21 today, while in other European capitals the cost rose across the board, according to UBS.
Purchasing power in London has increased since 2015, compared to other European capitals.
However, average salaries in London have had a mixed performance: while secretaries in London have seen their salaries increase, salaries for product managers have declined and are now the lowest out of Paris, Madrid, London and Berlin.
This means most Londoners have to work a little harder to buy luxury goods than in other global cities: to afford an iPhone X in London, for example, you’d need to work 11.3 days, compared with 6.7 days in New York.
But though some of these figures are encouraging, Geoffrey Yu, head of investment office UK at UBS Global Wealth Management highlights that the numbers may be linked to the pound’s recent decline since the Brexit referendum:
"When compared to other European capitals such as Paris, London's prices for certain goods, services and average rent seem to have dropped over the last three years, but only measured in dollar terms due to the pound's decline.
“This conclusion will be of little comfort to domestic residents who are only now seeing a return to real income growth."