The city’s expensive cost of rent put it ahead of several costly Asian cities, including Dubai, Shanghai, Tokyo and Beirut. 

Doha has ranked the top most expensive city in terms of cost of rent in the Middle East, just ahead of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, according to figures in a global cost of living index.

The index by Numbeo, which runs an international database based on user-contributed information, ranked Doha fifth out of 136 cities around Asia and first in the Middle East in terms of apartment rent expenses (one bedroom)—with the Gulf city scoring 51.63.

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The score compares all cities to New York City, which has been given a base score of 100. This means that the cost of rent in Doha, on average, is equivalent to almost 52 percent for prices in NYC.

To simplify, rent in Doha on average is 48.37 percent lower than in New York, which has a score of 100 percent.

In Asia, Doha ranks fifth, coming shortly after Hong Kong (76.21), Singapore (65.82), and Nagoya (63.66), according to the report.

The score puts Qatar’s capital ahead of other Gulf cities such as Abu Dhabi, which came in 6th place, Dubai (7), Manama (23), and Kuwait City (15) out of the 135 assessed cities in Asia.

Other statistics that looked into the cost of one-bedroom apartments in the most expensive districts within cities worldwide, indicate that rent in Qatar in such areas is around 16.72% higher than that of the United States. 

On average, a one-bedroom apartment in the heart of Doha costs QAR 5,804.88 ($1,549) a month, ranking fifth globally after Hong Kong ($2,209 per month), Singapore ($2,066 per month), Luxembourg ($1,764 per month), and Switzerland ($1613.18 per month).

This means that renting a one-bedroom apartment in a strategic location in the capital will cost more than in countries like Iceland, Netherlands, Australia, and Germany.

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