Arabic version: تقرير يسمي ملبورن وسيدني الأغلى للبيرة والسجائر
A new Deutsche Bank report finds Melbourne the world’s most expensive city for cigarettes and domestic beer, with Sydney close behind. The Mapping the World’s Prices study compared cost-of-living data across 69 cities on six continents, using crowd-sourced Numbeo data and tracking year-on-year (2025–2026) and decade changes.
According to ABC News, the report says Australians face steep sin taxes that make five beers and two packs of cigarettes 89 per cent more expensive in Melbourne and 82 per cent more expensive in Sydney than a decade ago. The price of a 20-pack of cigarettes rose about 130 per cent in Sydney and 123 per cent in Melbourne over the last decade. The study also ranks Sydney second and Melbourne fourth for monthly public transport costs, and notes differences in local fare systems such as Sydney’s weekly Opal cap and Melbourne’s myki daily rates.
The report notes fewer Australians smoke than 20 years ago and cites Laura Hunter saying, “Australia now has some of the lowest smoking rates of any high-income country.” Professor Coral Gartner is quoted: “There’s no doubt that the tax has encouraged people to quit smoking.” At the same time, the report says one in three Australian smokers uses illicit tobacco, and it cites organised crime networks and international overproduction as key drivers of that illicit market rather than price alone.
The study also shows Australia’s petrol prices are relatively low compared with some other cities and that Melbourne and Sydney rank in the top 25 for monthly salaries (Melbourne 11th and Sydney 14th). It compares monthly public transport pass rates — noting Sydney is the second-most expensive at monthly rates and Melbourne fourth — and looks at year-on-year and decade changes across a range of everyday expenses.
The report’s comparison of 2025–26 and decade changes highlights shifts in prices and salaries and links those movements to living costs and public health outcomes.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Victoria | New South Wales | General | Economy/اقتصاد
