Pricewatch

  • Only 16th

    June 18, 2007 @ 7:10 pm | by Conor Pope

    Okay, so it may be disappointing but what matters most is not our lowly position but the fact that at least we are moving in the right direction. Last year Dublin was the 18th most expensive city in the world and this year it’s ranked 16th. Not much of an improvement but an improvement nonetheless. Ireland has beaten off challenges from great cities like New York, Paris and London when it comes to pricey coffee according to the annual Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living survey. The average cost of a cup of coffee, including service, is €3 in Dublin, compared with €2.95 in London, €2.85 in New York and €2.30 in Paris. We can also be happy that hamburger meals are dearer here than elsewhere while Dublin is also the place to be if you want to be ripped off when buying a CD. Go us!!!

    • 5 Comments »

    1.
    June 18, 2007
    8:16 pm

    What gets me more than the actual prices is the rate at which prices are increasing at the moment. Around the corner where I work, they’ve increased the price of a coffee from €2.35 to €2.60 to €2.80 in just over 6 months. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing in the make-up of a cup of coffee that is increasing in cost at that rate.

    Comment by Ronan Johnson
    2.
    June 19, 2007
    9:18 am

    I’m not sure if they’re comparing like with like. EUR2.30 might get you a coffee in Paris, but it’s what you’d call an espresso in Dublin.

    Comment by slydawn
    3.
    June 19, 2007
    10:38 am

    If Dublin was the 18th most expensive city last year and is the 16th most expensive this year then surely Dublin is getting costlier and not cheaper as you stated?

    Comment by Paul
    4.
    June 20, 2007
    4:46 pm

    Paul, I think he is being ironical (like)

    Ronan is right the price of coffee is escalating at some pace, but the cost of ingredients etc are not increasing. And niether, by the way, is the quality.

    Comment by sarah
    5.
    June 20, 2007
    11:00 pm

    These surveys are pretty meaningless. The ‘average price’ of coffee is almost impossible to calculate unless you have a team out checking all cafes, bars, restaurants etc. Then it doesn’t take into account the quality of the product, the ambient surroundings,service, etc. How do you judge accommodation? The prices are all calculated against the dollar which is meaningless if you are not in a dollar area. The correct way to compare prices would be to calculate them against the hourly average industrial wage in the city involved. So if someone had to work three hours to buy a cup of coffee in one country and an hour in another country the actual monetary comparison becomes irrelevant. But of course journalists writing about prices would have to sit down and calculate the price rather than click on a mouse and copy a patently flawed report.

    Comment by John Williams

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