Bad news: Breakfast in Vietnam may set you back for the day
Saturday, 03/04/2017 13:23
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are among the world’s most expensive places to break your fast.
Source: Onnit.com
The
latest Bloomberg study on breakfast
spending versus daily incomes reveals wide affordability gaps between the top
and bottom cities in some regions.
Findings
were calculated based on market prices in the last 12-18 months provided by
Numbeo, a database that compiles the global cost of living.
According
to Numbeo, Hanoians must shell out about 12 percent of their average daily
incomes for breakfast. In other Asian cities, such as Osaka in Japan, the
morning meal costs less than 1 percent of a day’s pay.
Vietnam
belongs to the Asia-Pacific region of emerging countries where breakfast costs
on average 4.8 percent of a day's wage.
On
average, each Hanoian earns around VND6.1 million ($270) per month, meaning a
breakfast costs approximately $1.07, higher the average of $0.97 for the
region, data showed. Breakfast can be even pricier in Ho Chi Minh City where
living costs are 2.62 percent higher than in Hanoi.
But
it should be noted that the Bloomberg
survey is calculated on what many would class as a "western"
breakfast: one cup of whole milk, one egg, two slices of toast and a piece of
fruit -- which is not what Vietnamese people usually have in the morning.
In
fact, most Vietnamese prefer going out for breakfast rather than having it at
home, according to a survey released in December last year, and with banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) costing
just half a dollar, who can blame them?
By VnExpress