Cost of daily necessities

Comparison of worldwide cost of living

Living ist most expensive on the Cayman Islands and cheapest in Pakistan. In our ranking of 100 countries all around the world the USA comes 21th.

The cost of living are periodically calculated in nearly representative baskets of consumer goods. But many factors are complicating a worldwide comparison. E.g. a typical apartments dont have a standard size nor fittings. Even the quality of a branded packet of butter isn't the same in the Third World. Consequently, comparisons like this have to to be accepted with caution.

Zusätzlich sollte bei einen Kostenvergleich die Höhe des jeweils vorherrschenden eine Rolle spielen.Additionally, the average income of the single country should play a role in a cost comparison like this.

Cost of living and purchasing power related to average income

We ajusted the average cost of living inside the USA (based on 2019) to an index of 100. All other countries are related to this index. Therefore with an index of e.g. 80, the usual expenses in another country are 20% less then inside the United States.

The monthly income (please do not confuse it with a wage or salary) is calculated from the gross national income per capita.

The calculated purchasing power index is again based on a value of 100 for the United States. If it is higher, people can afford more based on the cost of living in relation to income. If it is lower, so the population is less wealthy.

The example of Luxembourg:
With a cost of living index of 111 all goods are on average about 11 percent more expensive than in the USA. But the average income in Luxembourg of 5903 USD is also 12% higher, which means that citizens can also afford more goods. Now you calculate the 11% higher costs against the 12% higher income. In the result, people in Luxembourg can still afford about 1 times more than a US citizen.

PlatzCountryCost of living indexØ Monthly incomePurchasing power index
1Cayman Islands195.03,928 USD38.3
2Bermuda190.38,845 USD88.3
3Switzerland144.37,038 USD92.7
4Iceland135.15,677 USD79.8
5Virgin Islands133.81,161 USD16.5
6Norway130.56,720 USD97.8
7Israel118.93,411 USD54.5
8Denmark118.45,014 USD80.4
9Bahamas116.02,543 USD41.7
10Luxembourg111.45,903 USD100.6
11Singapore111.14,898 USD83.8
12Ireland110.35,101 USD87.8
13Hong Kong107.74,192 USD73.9
14Australia106.94,438 USD78.9
15Japan106.83,443 USD61.2
16New Zealand106.03,418 USD61.3
17Finland104.84,025 USD73.0
18Sweden101.94,628 USD86.3
19United Kingdom101.33,483 USD65.3
20Canada100.03,746 USD71.2
21United States100.05,264 USD100.0
22Netherlands99.54,272 USD81.5
23Belgium98.33,823 USD73.9
24France97.83,424 USD66.5
25Austria96.34,113 USD81.1
26South Korea95.02,552 USD51.0
27Germany90.73,926 USD82.2
28Macao89.36,593 USD140.3
29Italy89.12,812 USD59.9
30Qatar86.95,096 USD111.4
31United Arab Emirates86.43,407 USD74.9
32Spain79.52,442 USD58.3
33Costa Rica75.0960 USD24.3
34Greece73.81,647 USD42.4
35Panama73.81,198 USD30.8
36Portugal73.61,832 USD47.3
37Estonia70.51,761 USD47.4
38Thailand68.6551 USD15.3
39Saudi Arabia66.81,800 USD51.2
40Latvia65.91,375 USD39.6
41Chile65.81,223 USD35.3
42Cambodia65.6116 USD3.4
43Czechia64.11,686 USD50.0
44Croatia63.21,167 USD35.0
45Dominican Republic62.1647 USD19.8
46Burma62.1109 USD3.3
47South Africa59.6479 USD15.3
48Lithuania59.31,447 USD46.3
49Cuba58.6623 USD20.2
50Brazil57.1757 USD25.2
51Ecuador57.1509 USD16.9
52Ghana55.6178 USD6.1
53China55.4788 USD27.0
54Iran55.4456 USD15.6
55Mexico55.2765 USD26.3
56Hungary55.21,230 USD42.4
57Kenya54.7135 USD4.7
58Malaysia54.1883 USD31.0
59Russia53.5853 USD30.2
60Peru53.4539 USD19.2
61Vietnam52.6197 USD7.1
62Poland52.01,175 USD42.9
63Philippines51.4319 USD11.8
64Indonesia51.0320 USD11.9
65Argentina49.41,033 USD39.7
66Tanzania48.485 USD3.3
67Serbia48.2533 USD21.0
68Albania47.6405 USD16.1
69Bosnia and Herzegovina47.5478 USD19.1
70Morocco47.5258 USD10.3
71Bolivia47.3281 USD11.3
72Romania47.3942 USD37.8
73Bulgaria46.9738 USD29.9
74Belarus46.6475 USD19.3
75Armenia45.1353 USD14.8
76Bangladesh44.6146 USD6.2
77Sri Lanka44.5338 USD14.5
78Paraguay44.4473 USD20.2
79Ukraine44.1222 USD9.5
80Nigeria43.2163 USD7.2
81North Macedonia43.0454 USD20.1
82Uganda42.652 USD2.3
83Turkey42.0868 USD39.3
84Colombia41.9515 USD23.3
85Algeria41.7338 USD15.4
86Kazakhstan41.7673 USD30.6
87Azerbaijan41.1338 USD15.6
88Nepal41.181 USD3.7
89Egypt40.4233 USD11.0
90Georgia38.7371 USD18.2
91Kosovo38.5352 USD17.4
92Kyrgyzstan37.9102 USD5.1
93Venezuela37.51,090 USD55.2
94Tunisia36.1292 USD15.3
95Uzbekistan35.7168 USD9.0
96Syria34.8152 USD8.3
97India34.2168 USD9.3
98Afghanistan33.646 USD2.6
99Pakistan27.9133 USD9.0


The calculated cost of living index is based on the OECD, the IMF and Eurostat figures and has been completed with consumer information of Numbeo as well as own researches. It does not take into account the differences between poverty and wealth, as well as prices for goods that do not belong to normal needs. Therefore this list should be regarded as a mathematical theorem. Whether it is realistic to survive with a purchasing power index of 2.3 (Uganda) does not matter in this table. This would correspond to about one-43th of the purchasing power inside the US.

Quality of life in relation to cost of living

In the search for a potential adopted country, the cost of living usually has the highest priority. However, other factors such as medical care or political stability should also be taken into account. In a further evaluation we compare numerous factors of different countries in order to derive a ranking for the quality of life.

Other indices

There are some other indices, e.g. the study of the swiss bank UBS issued about every 3 years or of the EDA (Federal Departement of Foreign Affairs). Both studies refer only to some few and usually large cities in which UBS and Switzerland have a representation.
Comparison: average incomeAverage income around the worldA comparison of the average income p.c. over 77 countries worldwide
Comparison: quality of lifeQuality of lifeCompare the quality of life around the globe: In which countries is life pleasant, safe and healthy?
tax havensList of the world's most notorious tax havensTax havens magically attract money and hide it from the tax authorities. Even in the middle of Europe and the USA.