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 102 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 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.

PlatzCountryCost of living indexØ Monthly incomePurchasing power index
1Cayman Islands195.03,943 USD36.8
2Bermuda190.39,811 USD94.0
3Switzerland144.37,125 USD90.0
4Iceland135.16,071 USD81.9
5Virgin Islands133.81,161 USD15.8
6Norway130.56,875 USD96.0
7Israel118.93,593 USD55.1
8Denmark118.45,329 USD82.0
9Bahamas116.02,788 USD43.8
10Luxembourg111.46,159 USD100.7
11Singapore111.14,966 USD81.5
12Ireland110.35,333 USD88.1
13Hong Kong107.74,233 USD71.6
14Australia106.94,592 USD78.3
15Japan106.83,476 USD59.3
16New Zealand106.03,563 USD61.3
17Finland104.84,168 USD72.5
18Sweden101.94,648 USD83.1
19United Kingdom101.33,518 USD63.3
20Canada100.03,864 USD70.4
21United States100.05,488 USD100.0
22Netherlands99.54,425 USD81.0
23Belgium98.34,003 USD74.2
24France97.83,538 USD65.9
25Austria96.34,288 USD81.2
26South Korea95.02,816 USD54.0
27Germany90.74,048 USD81.3
28Macao89.36,553 USD133.7
29Italy89.12,878 USD58.8
30Qatar86.95,098 USD106.9
31United Arab Emirates86.43,623 USD76.4
32Spain79.52,533 USD58.1
33Costa Rica75.0975 USD23.7
34Greece73.81,646 USD40.7
35Panama73.81,246 USD30.8
36Portugal73.61,933 USD47.9
37Uruguay73.01,353 USD33.8
38Estonia70.51,938 USD50.1
39Thailand68.6605 USD16.1
40Saudi Arabia66.81,903 USD51.9
41Latvia65.91,478 USD40.9
42Chile65.81,251 USD34.6
43Cambodia65.6128 USD3.5
44Czechia64.11,828 USD52.0
45Croatia63.21,248 USD36.0
46Dominican Republic62.1673 USD19.8
47Burma62.1116 USD3.4
48South Africa59.6503 USD15.4
49Lithuania59.31,590 USD48.8
50Cuba58.6623 USD19.4
51Brazil57.1761 USD24.3
52Ecuador57.1508 USD16.2
53Ghana55.6185 USD6.1
54China55.4868 USD28.5
55Iran55.4442 USD14.5
56Mexico55.2790 USD26.1
57Hungary55.21,375 USD45.4
58Kenya54.7146 USD4.9
59Malaysia54.1936 USD31.5
60Russia53.5938 USD31.9
61Peru53.4562 USD19.2
62Vietnam52.6216 USD7.5
63Poland52.01,279 USD44.8
64Philippines51.4321 USD11.4
65Indonesia51.0338 USD12.1
66Montenegro50.8755 USD27.1
67Argentina49.4928 USD34.2
68Tanzania48.490 USD3.4
69Serbia48.2586 USD22.2
70Albania47.6435 USD16.6
71Bosnia and Herzegovina47.5514 USD19.7
72Morocco47.5266 USD10.2
73Bolivia47.3293 USD11.3
74Romania47.31,053 USD40.6
75Bulgaria46.9798 USD31.0
76Belarus46.6524 USD20.5
77Armenia45.1390 USD15.8
78Bangladesh44.6162 USD6.6
79Sri Lanka44.5335 USD13.7
80Paraguay44.4460 USD18.9
81Ukraine44.1281 USD11.6
82Nigeria43.2169 USD7.1
83North Macedonia43.0487 USD20.6
84Uganda42.665 USD2.8
85Turkey42.0808 USD35.0
86Colombia41.9543 USD23.6
87Algeria41.7334 USD14.6
88Kazakhstan41.7735 USD32.1
89Azerbaijan41.1373 USD16.6
90Nepal41.191 USD4.0
91Egypt40.4224 USD10.1
92Georgia38.7398 USD18.7
93Kosovo38.5387 USD18.3
94Kyrgyzstan37.9103 USD5.0
95Venezuela37.51,090 USD53.0
96Tunisia36.1281 USD14.2
97Uzbekistan35.7150 USD7.7
98Syria34.8152 USD7.9
99India34.2177 USD9.4
100Afghanistan33.644 USD2.4
101Pakistan27.9118 USD7.7


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.