Auckland workers earn a Big Mac every 14 minutes

If you hadn't noticed, the cost of living in Auckland has risen sharply over the past three years, according to an international study of wages and prices by financial firm UBS.

Of 71 countries around the world, Auckland is now ranked 35th most expensive compared with 40th in 2003.

A basket of 122 goods and services ( including apartment rents, food, clothing, cars, restaurants and hotels) averaged out at US$74.40 an item in Auckland, a jump from US$62.10 in 2003.

UBS also measured buying power in how many minutes on average it takes for a worker in every major city to earn a McDonald's Big Mac.

Workers in Auckland have the second-highest Big Mac purchasing power in the Asia Pacific region, just below Sydney, and are among the top 10 around the world.

It takes an Auckland worker an average 14 minutes to earn enough for a Big Mac, while in Mumbai, Bangkok and Sofia it takes over an hour.

While Auckland's living costs have risen substantially, so has the purchasing power of its workers.

Auckland wages were ranked 26th highest, up from 31 in 2003.

UBS spokeswoman Caroline Gurney said a major gap in wages characterised the Asia Pacific region, from Tokyo, which lands in fifth place among the world's most expensive cities, to the other end of the scale: Delhi, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur.

Tokyo has the highest wage of US$78 an hour, while the lowest was in Mumbai, where workers earn an hourly US$3.10.

People in Asia also work the longest hours - almost 50 days per year more then Western Europeans.

Oslo, London, Copenhagen, Zurich and Tokyo are the world's most expensive cities. New York and Chicago dropped back in the rankings, mostly due to the weaker US dollar.