I refer to the Straits Times article “Singapore cheaper than Stockholm” dated 26 Sept 2009 which featured Mr Mikael Huss from Stockholm telling us how much cheaper Singapore is compared to Stockholm.
Mr Huss vouched that back in Stockholm, it is nearly impossible for a household to survive on a single income, so he found it ’surprising’ that his family could get by on a single income after moving to Singapore. He concludes that “Stockholm’s living cost is much higher”.
But according to the UBS comparison on prices and wages, which is the subject of the accompanying Straits Times report “How much is a burger worth?”, the price level in Stockholm excluding rent is only 87.0, not “much higher” than Singapore’s 82.0, contrary to what Mr Huss says.
Mr Huss added that “everything is cheaper here except maybe rent and childcare”. The question we want to ask Mr Huss is, what is the point of counting the price of everything except rent? Will that exclude Mr Huss from paying rent? Certainly not! So if we consider rent as well, UBS’s findings tell us that the price level in Stockholm is actually 65.5, lower than Singapore’s 70.7. Therefore, Singapore is in fact more expensive than Stockholm, contrary to what Mr Huss or the title the article would like you to believe.
Furthermore, what is the point of comparing price levels without also comparing wages? The UBS findings show that Stockholm’s wage level is 74.5, way above Singapore’s wage level of 26.8. In other words, while prices of goods are similar between the two countries, Stockholmers earn three times as much as us! So it is indeed unthinkable how Mr Huss should find it nearly impossible to survive in Stockholm yet finds it easy to do so here when the average wage in Stockholm is three times that in Singapore!
Mr Huss also claims that taxes in Stockholm were higher. But according to UBS findings, the net wage level (that is net of taxes) in Stockholm is 71.0 while the corresponding figure for Singapore is 31.3. In other words, despite Stockholm’s higher taxes, their take home pay is still much higher than those in Singapore, more than two times that of Singapore’s in fact.
All in all, it is hard to believe what Mr Huss says. And that is the problem with personal anecdotal evidences, they are not necessarily reflective of the general situation at large.
Mr Huss vouched that back in Stockholm, it is nearly impossible for a household to survive on a single income, so he found it ’surprising’ that his family could get by on a single income after moving to Singapore. He concludes that “Stockholm’s living cost is much higher”.
But according to the UBS comparison on prices and wages, which is the subject of the accompanying Straits Times report “How much is a burger worth?”, the price level in Stockholm excluding rent is only 87.0, not “much higher” than Singapore’s 82.0, contrary to what Mr Huss says.
Mr Huss added that “everything is cheaper here except maybe rent and childcare”. The question we want to ask Mr Huss is, what is the point of counting the price of everything except rent? Will that exclude Mr Huss from paying rent? Certainly not! So if we consider rent as well, UBS’s findings tell us that the price level in Stockholm is actually 65.5, lower than Singapore’s 70.7. Therefore, Singapore is in fact more expensive than Stockholm, contrary to what Mr Huss or the title the article would like you to believe.
Furthermore, what is the point of comparing price levels without also comparing wages? The UBS findings show that Stockholm’s wage level is 74.5, way above Singapore’s wage level of 26.8. In other words, while prices of goods are similar between the two countries, Stockholmers earn three times as much as us! So it is indeed unthinkable how Mr Huss should find it nearly impossible to survive in Stockholm yet finds it easy to do so here when the average wage in Stockholm is three times that in Singapore!
Mr Huss also claims that taxes in Stockholm were higher. But according to UBS findings, the net wage level (that is net of taxes) in Stockholm is 71.0 while the corresponding figure for Singapore is 31.3. In other words, despite Stockholm’s higher taxes, their take home pay is still much higher than those in Singapore, more than two times that of Singapore’s in fact.
All in all, it is hard to believe what Mr Huss says. And that is the problem with personal anecdotal evidences, they are not necessarily reflective of the general situation at large.
