Many Melburnians were aghast to learn their city had won a trophy no one wants: the most expensive night out in the world. At least, that’s according to the “Oasis index”, an annual metric from the research team at Deutsche Bank.

The index tracks the cost of five beers and two packets of cigarettes, in US dollars, city by city. And yes, this was inspired by the lyrics of the song Cigarettes and Alcohol, from Oasis’s 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe.

Melbourne’s Oasis basket comes to US$111.20 (about A$160). That’s slightly ahead of Sydney at US$109.50 (A$157), but roughly double the equivalent basket in New York – US$54.10 (about A$78).

The Oasis index might sound silly and fun, but like several other “novelty” metrics, it can actually give us some real economic insights – and not just the cost of a night out.

Economists have spent much of the past 50 years trying to show how unusual indicators such as hemlines, lipstick and underwear are informal barometers of the economy.

Don’t look back in anger

The Oasis index lives in a much drier document from the Deutsche Bank Research Institute: Mapping the World’s Prices 2026.

Now in its tenth edition, this........

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