Dubai's services are the world's most expensive

Dubai is the most expensive city for services in a global survey from UBS investment bank, especially when it comes to restaurant meals and hotel stays.

The average cost of a basket of 27 services in the city, from haircuts to phone charges and dry cleaning, is US$890 (Dh3,268), making it the most expensive city of the 73 surveyed around the world. It was a steep jump from 28th place of 71 cities on the survey just three years ago, with an average cost of $470.

The latest result places it far above the average – , $503 –, and well ahead of expensive cities such as London ($630), New York ($770) and Paris ($770), according to UBS’s Price and Earnings Report 2009.