Consumer society criticises studies claiming Amman most expensive Arab city

AMMAN — The Consumer Protection Society (CPS) on Saturday affirmed that Jordan is not the most expensive Arab country to live in, criticising recently issued “suspicious studies” that aim at tarnishing the Kingdom’s image, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

CPS President Mohammad Obeidat said the studies centre affiliated with the society is currently conducting a study to respond to the controversial studies and their “erroneous results”.

He said the study will be released in the next several days. 

Obeidat charged that the Economist Intelligence Unit study that ranked Amman as the most expensive city in the Arab world is not accurate.

He explained that the study should have included countries with equal incomes or at least compared individuals’ incomes with the increase or decrease in prices, noting that such studies make all countries equal without taking into account any differences. 

Obeidat urged media outlets to “show the error of these studies”, highlighting the stable conditions in the Kingdom despite turbulence in the region. 

Globally, Amman was ranked in 29th place as the most expensive city, according to the worldwide cost of living survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which covered 133 countries.

Amman was more expensive than Abu Dhabi, which came second, and Dubai, which came third at the Arab level, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living, a bi-yearly Economist Intelligence Unit survey that compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services. 

These include food, drink, clothing, household supplies, personal care items, home rents, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs.