WA’S reputation as an expensive place to live has been exploded as a myth, with a comprehensive analysis revealing it is becoming increasingly affordable.

The end of the mining boom has seen Perth become the cheapest place to live of Australia’s mainland States and go from the 10th most expensive city in the world to the 49th in just five years, according to one global survey.

A Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre report released overnight analysed various cost of living indicators, including overseas research, Australian Bureau of Statistics data, wage and price inflation and what West Australians pay for groceries, clothes, housing and education.

It found Perth was becoming increasingly affordable relative to other cities. Prices in Perth were mostly growing more slowly than the rest of the country.

Between 2002 and 2017 Perth’s wage price index rose by more than 60 per cent, while the consumer price index — a measure of inflation — was closer to 40 per cent.

Economist Intelligence Unit data cited in the report, which ranked Perth as cheaper than Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, did not factor in the cost of housing, which is regarded as the single biggest expense for most Australian households.

Sydney was the least affordable Australian city for housing and the second most unaffordable internationally behind Hong Kong.

Housing in Perth was still rated as “severely unaffordable”, despite house prices having fallen in the post-boom years.

And not all West Australians were benefiting from cheaper living conditions, with cost of living pressures rising faster than inflation for low income households. The spending gap between households in financial stress and the rest of WA had also increased over time.

WA households’ average weekly expenditure was about $1500, in line to the average weekly expenditure of Australia as a whole.

Report author Professor Alan Duncan said the findings ran contrary to perceptions of Perth as an expensive city.

“Perth actually ranks relatively well on a broad comparison of living costs with other capital cities across Australia, counter to the popular perception of Western Australia being one of the most expensive places in the country to live,” he said.

“We’re seeing that the cost of living is rising faster than inflation for low income households, although greater competition at the checkout may help to ease these cost of living pressures.”

Perth was the third most expensive Australian capital city to shop at one of the major chain supermarkets but the cheapest for shoppers at independent supermarkets.

The report also found that the Kimberley had overtaken the Pilbara as the most expensive place to live in WA. Prices in the Kimberley were about 13 per cent higher than in Perth.