New Delhi, Aug. 9: Mumbai and Delhi are among the world’s least expensive cities, but that doesn’t mean people here can splurge because they are also paid the lowest, according to a study.

Mumbai has emerged as the second cheapest city, while Delhi is two notches up, says the study conducted by Swiss banking major and the world’s largest wealth manager UBS.

The gross earnings in Indian cities are less than 10 per cent of the wages in top-ranked cities. Delhi is at the bottom of the list with a gross hourly average wage of $6.1 against Copenhagen’s $118.2, according to the UBS price and earnings 2006 report, which was published today.

If you live in Delhi and are craving for a large McDonald’s burger, you need to work nearly an hour (59 minutes) to buy it. But in some other parts of the world like Los Angeles and New York, a maximum of 13 minutes are needed to put a Big Mac on your plate.

Among the 71 cities covered in the study, Oslo, London, Copenhagen, Zurich and Tokyo are the five most expensive cities, excluding the cost of housing. The cost of living is the highest in London and New York if rents are included.

Mumbai has been ranked 70th on the cost-of-living list, excluding rent — up one position from 2005. Delhi is placed at 68.

If housing costs are included, Mumbai and Delhi move up a little, but still remain among the world’s cheapest cities.

The rankings were arrived at on the basis of the cost of a shopping basket of 95 goods and 27 services — it costs $38.5 in Mumbai and $42.8 in Delhi, while in Oslo, it costs $121.5 and more than a $100 in London, Copenhagen, Zurich, Tokyo, Geneva and New York.

Food costs are the lowest in Mumbai and the highest in Tokyo. A basket with 39 food items costs $174 in Mumbai, $195 in Delhi and as high as $723 in Tokyo.

Indian cities also rank below the line in terms of wages. Gross earnings are the highest in Scandinavia, followed by Switzerland, Copenhagen, Oslo, Zurich and Geneva.

Wages in Mumbai, Delhi and other Asian countries like Jakarta and Manila amount to less than 10 per cent of what is paid in the top-ranked cities.

While gross hourly wages average $16-17 in Europe and North America, they drop to an average of $5 an hour in Asia.