The cost of living in Tel Aviv is enormous.

Twice a year, the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis team working under the Economist Group, conducts a worldwide study to determine the most expensive cities to live in. This determination is made based on a variety of factors, including general cost of living, real estate, local wage averages, and more. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some major shakeups in the global economy, funneling money away from some countries and into others. Case in point, last year, the city of Tel Aviv in Israel was ranked as the fifth most expensive city to live in. This time around, though, Tel Aviv has taken the top spot.

According to the EIU’s study, Tel Aviv has become the most expensive city in the world thanks primarily to the strength of Israel’s primary currency, the shekel. Compared to other major countries around the world, Israel had one of the fastest rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines, with with over 62% of their population currently vaccinated. This fast rollout, especially compared to the United States, gave a boost to the shekel over the US dollar, raising the value of all Israeli properties and commodities.

Tel Aviv named as world's most expensive city to live in https://t.co/GEFupY3pA9

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) December 1, 2021

According to Upasana Dutt, head of worldwide cost of living at the EIU, costs of living are expected to continue to rise in cities around the world due to the ongoing supply chain issues, as well as changes in consumer desires and confidence. However, central banks are expected to begin raising interest rates, which will hopefully stave off inflation.

Interestingly, Tel Aviv took the first place spot away from last year’s first place city, that being Paris, France, which fell to second place. Tied with Paris is the city state of Singapore, followed by Zurich in Switzerland and Hong Kong in China.