Brisbane has achieved a surprising milestone by being ranked the second-best city globally for cost of living, according to Compare The Market’s recent index.
This comes as a shock to many, given that Brisbane has traditionally been known as one of Australia’s more expensive cities for housing.
The city experienced a significant rise in property costs—nearly 75% since the pandemic—exerting financial pressure on residents.
Despite these challenges, Brisbane’s high ranking was largely driven by Queensland’s 50-cent public transport fare policy, introduced under former premier Steven Miles and now endorsed by the Crisafulli government.
This policy has significantly enhanced Brisbane’s affordability and was a key factor in its strong performance on the index, which evaluated 11 cost-related aspects, including public transport, fuel prices, rent, and unemployment.
Seoul, South Korea, secured the top spot as the most cost-effective city to live in, with Brisbane closely following. Melbourne ranked seventh, and Sydney tied for 13th place with Lisbon, Portugal.
The index highlighted Brisbane’s public transport fares as the second lowest among all cities, at $0.50 per ride, with only Mexico City offering cheaper fares. Additional factors that contributed to Brisbane’s ranking included affordable petrol prices ($1.680 per litre), a relatively modest rent price increase of 17.7% since 2015, and a low unemployment rate of 4.2%.
Brisbane’s ranking edged out Melbourne and Sydney, both of which benefited from Australia’s high average wage of $94,694 and stable economic conditions.
However, Brisbane fell short of the top position due to its higher electricity costs of 0.400 per kWh compared to Seoul’s 0.194. Federal and state electricity subsidies, introduced in July, are expected to provide temporary relief and could further enhance Brisbane’s affordability profile next year.
The 2024 cost-of-living cities index covered 42 different capital cities across 37 economically developed countries globally and 11 cost-of-living factors.
The top ten cities identified for their cost-effectiveness are:
Seoul, South Korea
Brisbane, Australia
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Madrid, Spain
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Melbourne, Australia
Rome, Italy
Mexico City, Mexico
Prague, Czechia
