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 Switzerland:With a cost of living index of 144 all goods are on average about 44 percent more expensive than in the USA. But the average income in Switzerland of 7125 USD is also 30% higher, which means that citizens can also afford more goods. Now you calculate the 44% higher costs against the 30% higher income. In the result, people in Switzerland can afford about 10 percent less than a US citizen.
Platz | Country | Cost of living index | Ø Monthly income | Purchasing power index |
---|
1 | Cayman Islands | 195.0 | 3,943 USD | 36.8 |
2 | Bermuda | 190.3 | 9,811 USD | 94.0 |
3 | Switzerland | 144.3 | 7,125 USD | 90.0 |
4 | Iceland | 135.1 | 6,071 USD | 81.9 |
5 | Virgin Islands | 133.8 | 1,161 USD | 15.8 |
6 | Norway | 130.5 | 6,875 USD | 96.0 |
7 | Israel | 118.9 | 3,593 USD | 55.1 |
8 | Denmark | 118.4 | 5,329 USD | 82.0 |
9 | Bahamas | 116.0 | 2,788 USD | 43.8 |
10 | Luxembourg | 111.4 | 6,159 USD | 100.7 |
11 | Singapore | 111.1 | 4,966 USD | 81.5 |
12 | Ireland | 110.3 | 5,333 USD | 88.1 |
13 | Hong Kong | 107.7 | 4,233 USD | 71.6 |
14 | Australia | 106.9 | 4,592 USD | 78.3 |
15 | Japan | 106.8 | 3,476 USD | 59.3 |
16 | New Zealand | 106.0 | 3,563 USD | 61.3 |
17 | Finland | 104.8 | 4,168 USD | 72.5 |
18 | Sweden | 101.9 | 4,648 USD | 83.1 |
19 | United Kingdom | 101.3 | 3,518 USD | 63.3 |
20 | Canada | 100.0 | 3,864 USD | 70.4 |
21 | United States | 100.0 | 5,488 USD | 100.0 |
22 | Netherlands | 99.5 | 4,425 USD | 81.0 |
23 | Belgium | 98.3 | 4,003 USD | 74.2 |
24 | France | 97.8 | 3,538 USD | 65.9 |
25 | Austria | 96.3 | 4,288 USD | 81.2 |
26 | South Korea | 95.0 | 2,816 USD | 54.0 |
27 | Germany | 90.7 | 4,048 USD | 81.3 |
28 | Macao | 89.3 | 6,553 USD | 133.7 |
29 | Italy | 89.1 | 2,878 USD | 58.8 |
30 | Qatar | 86.9 | 5,098 USD | 106.9 |
31 | United Arab Emirates | 86.4 | 3,623 USD | 76.4 |
32 | Spain | 79.5 | 2,533 USD | 58.1 |
33 | Costa Rica | 75.0 | 975 USD | 23.7 |
34 | Greece | 73.8 | 1,646 USD | 40.7 |
35 | Panama | 73.8 | 1,246 USD | 30.8 |
36 | Portugal | 73.6 | 1,933 USD | 47.9 |
37 | Uruguay | 73.0 | 1,353 USD | 33.8 |
38 | Estonia | 70.5 | 1,938 USD | 50.1 |
39 | Thailand | 68.6 | 605 USD | 16.1 |
40 | Saudi Arabia | 66.8 | 1,903 USD | 51.9 |
41 | Latvia | 65.9 | 1,478 USD | 40.9 |
42 | Chile | 65.8 | 1,251 USD | 34.6 |
43 | Cambodia | 65.6 | 128 USD | 3.5 |
44 | Czechia | 64.1 | 1,828 USD | 52.0 |
45 | Croatia | 63.2 | 1,248 USD | 36.0 |
46 | Dominican Republic | 62.1 | 673 USD | 19.8 |
47 | Burma | 62.1 | 116 USD | 3.4 |
48 | South Africa | 59.6 | 503 USD | 15.4 |
49 | Lithuania | 59.3 | 1,590 USD | 48.8 |
50 | Cuba | 58.6 | 623 USD | 19.4 |
51 | Brazil | 57.1 | 761 USD | 24.3 |
52 | Ecuador | 57.1 | 508 USD | 16.2 |
53 | Ghana | 55.6 | 185 USD | 6.1 |
54 | China | 55.4 | 868 USD | 28.5 |
55 | Iran | 55.4 | 442 USD | 14.5 |
56 | Mexico | 55.2 | 790 USD | 26.1 |
57 | Hungary | 55.2 | 1,375 USD | 45.4 |
58 | Kenya | 54.7 | 146 USD | 4.9 |
59 | Malaysia | 54.1 | 936 USD | 31.5 |
60 | Russia | 53.5 | 938 USD | 31.9 |
61 | Peru | 53.4 | 562 USD | 19.2 |
62 | Vietnam | 52.6 | 216 USD | 7.5 |
63 | Poland | 52.0 | 1,279 USD | 44.8 |
64 | Philippines | 51.4 | 321 USD | 11.4 |
65 | Indonesia | 51.0 | 338 USD | 12.1 |
66 | Montenegro | 50.8 | 755 USD | 27.1 |
67 | Argentina | 49.4 | 928 USD | 34.2 |
68 | Tanzania | 48.4 | 90 USD | 3.4 |
69 | Serbia | 48.2 | 586 USD | 22.2 |
70 | Albania | 47.6 | 435 USD | 16.6 |
71 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 47.5 | 514 USD | 19.7 |
72 | Morocco | 47.5 | 266 USD | 10.2 |
73 | Bolivia | 47.3 | 293 USD | 11.3 |
74 | Romania | 47.3 | 1,053 USD | 40.6 |
75 | Bulgaria | 46.9 | 798 USD | 31.0 |
76 | Belarus | 46.6 | 524 USD | 20.5 |
77 | Armenia | 45.1 | 390 USD | 15.8 |
78 | Bangladesh | 44.6 | 162 USD | 6.6 |
79 | Sri Lanka | 44.5 | 335 USD | 13.7 |
80 | Paraguay | 44.4 | 460 USD | 18.9 |
81 | Ukraine | 44.1 | 281 USD | 11.6 |
82 | Nigeria | 43.2 | 169 USD | 7.1 |
83 | North Macedonia | 43.0 | 487 USD | 20.6 |
84 | Uganda | 42.6 | 65 USD | 2.8 |
85 | Turkey | 42.0 | 808 USD | 35.0 |
86 | Colombia | 41.9 | 543 USD | 23.6 |
87 | Algeria | 41.7 | 334 USD | 14.6 |
88 | Kazakhstan | 41.7 | 735 USD | 32.1 |
89 | Azerbaijan | 41.1 | 373 USD | 16.6 |
90 | Nepal | 41.1 | 91 USD | 4.0 |
91 | Egypt | 40.4 | 224 USD | 10.1 |
92 | Georgia | 38.7 | 398 USD | 18.7 |
93 | Kosovo | 38.5 | 387 USD | 18.3 |
94 | Kyrgyzstan | 37.9 | 103 USD | 5.0 |
95 | Venezuela | 37.5 | 1,090 USD | 53.0 |
96 | Tunisia | 36.1 | 281 USD | 14.2 |
97 | Uzbekistan | 35.7 | 150 USD | 7.7 |
98 | Syria | 34.8 | 152 USD | 7.9 |
99 | India | 34.2 | 177 USD | 9.4 |
100 | Afghanistan | 33.6 | 44 USD | 2.4 |
101 | Pakistan | 27.9 | 118 USD | 7.7 |
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 2.4 (Afghanistan) does not matter in this table. This would correspond to about one-42th 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.