Some cities, especially capitals, are iconic for their business districts and suit-wearing industries. As necessary attire for many, Zipjet wondered how suit-related services themselves contribute to global trade.
Does the cost of dry cleaning a suit differ around the world? Is there more competitive pricing in typically suit-wearing cities, or does it drive the price up due to demand? As part of industry market research, Zipjet undertook this study to determine not only how the cost of dry cleaning varies from nation to nation, but how much it contributes to the economy as a whole.
The study began by hand-picking 100 cities around the world, focusing on capital cities, business centres and financial districts.
To source the cost of dry cleaning a suit, Zipjet looked at the average price of cleaning 2 and 3-piece suits, as both a package deal and as separate jacket and trousers in each city.
Once Zipjet determined this figure, they calculated the deviation from the average, which shows how much more or less expensive the service is in comparison to all of the other cities in the study.
The final index is ranked highest to lowest, based on the cost of dry cleaning a single suit.
And herewith is the Southeast Asian countries' rankings listed within the index:
Based on the index, Jakarta has been named the cheapest city in the world to clean a suit, according to a study conducted by ZipJet, a Europe-based on-demand laundry and dry cleaning service, The Jakarta Post reported.
The research discovered that the average cost of dry cleaning a single suit in Jakarta is US$2.20. By comparison, the cost to clean a suit in Oslo is $52.03.
Based on the study, Oslo was named the world’s most expensive city to clean a suit, followed by Helsinki with an average cost of $41.13 per suit and Gothenburg, Sweden, with $35.12 per suit.
The research also found that people in Jakarta have to work at least 1.4 hours at minimum wage to afford the service.
“For traditionally business-oriented cities, such as Oslo, Helsinki and Zurich, our study shows that citizens are paying between 13 and 30 percent more to dry clean their suits than the rest of the world.
Although you could consider this a ‘suit tax’, our data also shows that as salaries are higher in these nations, it would only take around 1 to 3 hours of working at minimum wage to afford such a service in these cities,” said ZipJet founder and managing director Florian Färber.
Source : The Jakarta Post
