Switzerland is no longer the world's most expensive country. That position now belongs to Iceland, according to calculations by the Icelandic trade union Viska, and reported by Swiss Info and YLE.
As stated by the Viska economist Vilhjálmur Hilmarsson, prices in Iceland are about three percent higher than in Switzerland. Viska's calculations are based on data from Eurostat and Sedlabank, the central bank of Iceland. The last time Iceland was a more expensive country than Switzerland, according to Eurostat, was in 2018.
According to Hilmarsson, a large part of the upward pressure on prices is due to the fact that Iceland's economy is largely based on tourism. This in turn increases service inflation and wages in Iceland. High housing prices also have an impact.
"Tourism is a huge contributor in the services' inflation. The demand pressure from tourism has pushed wages up. Another big component is housing which has been directly affected by tourism. Tourists are competing with inhabitants for housing through AirBnB for instance."