How long to earn a Big Mac?

By The Associated Press

Residents of Tokyo have the highest purchasing power in the world, edging out people in Los Angeles, Sydney, London and Toronto, according to a new survey by the Swiss banking giant UBS that uses the "Big Mac" as its benchmark.

Tokyo scored at the top of the survey, which aims to eliminate variables such as exchange rates, even though it is one of the most expensive cities in the world, UBS said in the "Prices and Earnings" report released Wednesday.

"Wages only become meaningful in relation to prices -- that is, what can be bought with the money earned," it said.

The bank calculated the "weighted net hourly wage in 14 professions" and divided it into the local price of "a globally available product," for which it chose McDonald's flagship hamburger. Prices across the U.S. vary but average about $2.50.

"On a global average, 35 minutes of work buys a Big Mac," it said. "But the disparities are huge: in Nairobi, 1.5 hours' work is needed to buy the burger with the net hourly wage there. In the U.S. cities of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami, a maximum of 13 minutes' labor is needed."

In Tokyo, it takes a mere 10 minutes. Bogota, Colombia, came in last among the 70 cities surveyed at 97 minutes.

Oslo world's costliest city

The UBS survey, conducted every three years, rated Oslo as the most expensive city on the basis of the cost of a basket of 122 goods and services, excluding rent. It was followed by London; Copenhagen, Denmark; Zurich, Switzerland; Tokyo; Geneva; New York; Dublin, Ireland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Helsinki, Finland.

The least expensive cities were Manila, Philippines; Delhi; Buenos Aires; Bombay and Kuala Lumpur.

UBS said that if the cost of housing was included, "life is particularly expensive in London and New York."

The bank also compared wages. In that contest Copenhagen was tops, with an index of 118.2. For that comparison, New York -- in fifth place -- was taken as the base with an index of 100. Second place went to Oslo, followed by Zurich and Geneva. London was in sixth, followed by Chicago, Dublin, Frankfurt and Brussels.

At the other end was Delhi, with an index of 6.1.

"In the cities of Western Europe and North America, workers in 14 representative professions earn a gross hourly wage averaging US$18 (euro14); in the Eastern European and Asian cities examined, the figure was only US$4-US$5 (euro3.10-euro3.90)."

But taxes and social security payments take a big bit in northern Europe, with Scandinavian and German cities losing ground.

Wages high, standards high in U.S.

Rankings were similar to the last survey in 2003, with changes resulting largely from shifts in foreign exchange rates, the study said. New York and Chicago dropped in the expensive cities ranking, mostly due to the weaker dollar.

"Shanghai and Beijing, meanwhile, remain comparatively inexpensive despite an economic boom because the national currency, the renminbi, has so far resisted pressures to appreciate."

Workers in Seoul, South Korea, work the longest. Those in Paris have the shortest work week.

"Based on a 42-hour work week, Asian workers labor about 50 days a year more than their peers in Paris," it said.

The study said a dollar earned in Los Angeles, after deducting taxes and Social Security contributions, is worth more than in Chicago, New York, Miami, Toronto and Montreal.

"Although the highest wages are paid in New York, it also has the highest cost of living anywhere in the Americas," it said. "Thanks to their much higher wages, after buying the basic basket of goods and services, workers in North American cities have far more left over for vacations, luxury items or savings than their counterparts in Latin America. The average purchasing power in Central and South America is just a third of the level in the North American cities."

How long to earn a Big Mac?
City	Min.	City	Min.	City	Min.
Tokyo	10	Nicosia, Cyprus	19	Prague, Czech Republic	39
Los Angeles	11	Brussels, Belgium	20	Tallinn, Estonia	39
Chicago	12	Milan, Italy	20	Warsaw, Poland	43
Miami	12	Taipei, Taiwan	20	Vilnius, Lithuania	43
New York	13	Barcelona, Spain	21	Beijing	44
Auckland, New Zealand	14	Paris	21	Budapest, Hungary	48
Sydney, Australia	14	Stockholm, Sweden	21	Istanbul, Turkey	48
Toronto	14	Singapore	22	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	53
Dublin, Ireland	15	Lyon, France	24	Bratislava, Slovakia	55
Zurich, Switzerland	15	Manama, Bahrain	24	Santiago, Chile	56
Frankfurt, Germany	16	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	25	Kiev, Ukraine	56
Geneva	16	Moscow	25	Buenos Aires, Argentina	56
London	16	Rome	25	New Delhi	59
Vienna, Austria	16	Athens, Greece	26	Bangkok, Thailand	67
Berlin	17	Riga, Latvia	28	Bucharest, Romania	69
Hong Kong	17	Seoul, South Korea	29	Sofia, Bulgaria	69
Luxembourg	17	Johannesburg, South Africa	30	Bombay, India	70
Montreal	17	Lisbon, Portugal	32	Manila, Philippines	81
Munich, Germany	17	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	33	Mexico City	82
Copenhagen, Denmark	18	Ljubljana, Slovenia	35	Caracas, Venezuela	85
Oslo, Norway	18	Worldwide average	35	Jakarta, Indonesia	86
Amsterdam, Netherlands	19	Sao Paulo, Brazil	38	Lima, Peru	86
Helsinki, Finland	19	Shanghai, China	38	Nairobi, Kenya	91
Madrid, Spain	19			Bogota, Colombia	97