How does the cost of living differ around the world?

To find out, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu visualized the results of Numbeo’s Cost of Living Index, which measures the price of goods, services, and rent relative to New York City (baseline of 100).

If a country has a value of 80, for example, it indicates that prices are 20% lower than they are in New York City.

Data & Discussion

The data for this visualization comes from Numbeo, the world’s largest crowd-sourced database of prices and living costs. The values shown in this infographic combine daily expenses with housing costs, providing a holistic measure of affordability.

RankCountryCost of Living &
Rent Index

1	🇰🇾 Cayman Islands	94.3
2	🇨🇭 Switzerland	82.3
3	🇸🇬 Singapore	80.9
4	🇮🇸 Iceland	75.2
5	🇧🇸 Bahamas	68.7
6	🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR	65.6
7	🇬🇬 Guernsey	62.5
8	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	62.4
9	🇮🇪 Ireland	57.0
10	🇳🇴 Norway	56.8
11	🇳🇱 Netherlands	54.7
12	🇺🇸 U.S.	54.6
13	🇩🇰 Denmark	54.3
14	🇮🇲 Isle Of Man	52.5
15	🇮🇱 Israel	51.8
16	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	51.6
17	🇬🇧 UK	50.6
18	🇦🇺 Australia	49.5
19	🇦🇹 Austria	49.1
20	🇦🇪 UAE	48.7
21	🇨🇦 Canada	48.1
22	🇩🇪 Germany	47.6
23	🇫🇷 France	46.0
24	🇧🇪 Belgium	45.9
25	🇫🇮 Finland	45.6
26	🇸🇪 Sweden	44.9
27	🇳🇿 New Zealand	44.9
28	🇲🇴 Macao SAR	44.0
29	🇰🇷 South Korea	42.9
30	🇨🇾 Cyprus	42.8
31	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	42.7
32	🇶🇦 Qatar	42.7
33	🇲🇹 Malta	41.7
34	🇮🇹 Italy	41.1
35	🇪🇪 Estonia	38.5
36	🇨🇩 DRC	37.9
37	🇪🇸 Spain	37.7
38	🇸🇮 Slovenia	37.6
39	🇵🇹 Portugal	36.8
40	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	36.6
41	🇲🇻 Maldives	36.1
42	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	35.9
43	🇯🇲 Jamaica	35.6
44	🇧🇭 Bahrain	35.2
45	🇺🇾 Uruguay	35.2
46	🇬🇾 Guyana	35.1
47	🇭🇷 Croatia	35.0
48	🇵🇦 Panama	34.6
49	🇬🇷 Greece	34.4
50	🇯🇵 Japan	34.3
51	🇱🇹 Lithuania	34.3
52	🇹🇼 Taiwan	34.2
53	🇸🇳 Senegal	34.0
54	🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago	33.9
55	🇧🇳 Brunei	33.4
56	🇸🇰 Slovakia	33.3
57	🇱🇻 Latvia	32.7
58	🇵🇱 Poland	32.7
59	🇰🇼 Kuwait	32.5
60	🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	32.1
61	🇦🇱 Albania	31.3
62	🇾🇪 Yemen	30.8
63	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	30.7
64	🇨🇲 Cameroon	30.5
65	🇭🇺 Hungary	29.8
66	🇦🇲 Armenia	29.7
67	🇲🇪 Montenegro	29.7
68	🇷🇸 Serbia	29.1
69	🇱🇧 Lebanon	28.8
70	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	28.6
71	🇧🇿 Belize	28.3
72	🇸🇻 El Salvador	28.2
73	🇵🇸 Palestine	28.2
74	🇬🇹 Guatemala	28.0
75	🇲🇽 Mexico	28.0
76	🇹🇷 Turkey	27.9
77	🇨🇺 Cuba	27.8
78	🇴🇲 Oman	27.5
79	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	27.3
80	🇷🇴 Romania	26.6
81	🇦🇷 Argentina	26.6
82	🇷🇺 Russia	26.5
83	🇧🇼 Botswana	26.2
84	🇫🇯 Fiji	26.2
85	🇲🇿 Mozambique	25.8
86	🇹🇭 Thailand	25.6
87	🇲🇺 Mauritius	25.5
88	🇲🇩 Moldova	25.3
89	🇨🇱 Chile	25.1
90	🇳🇬 Nigeria	24.9
91	🇯🇴 Jordan	24.2
92	🇭🇳 Honduras	24.1
93	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	24.0
94	🇳🇦 Namibia	23.5
95	🇧🇦 Bosnia And Herzegovina	23.4
96	🇿🇦 South Africa	23.3
97	🇬🇪 Georgia	23.2
98	🇲🇳 Mongolia	23.2
99	🇿🇲 Zambia	23.0
100	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	23.0
101	🇻🇪 Venezuela	22.8
102	🇰🇭 Cambodia	22.6
103	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	22.4
104	🇬🇭 Ghana	22.1
105	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	22.0
106	🇲🇾 Malaysia	21.5
107	🇷🇼 Rwanda	21.4
108	🇵🇪 Peru	21.4
109	🇨🇳 China	21.2
110	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	21.1
111	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	20.7
112	🇲🇦 Morocco	20.5
113	🇪🇨 Ecuador	20.1
114	🇨🇴 Colombia	19.9
115	🇵🇭 Philippines	19.8
116	🇧🇷 Brazil	19.7
117	🇰🇪 Kenya	19.6
118	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	19.6
119	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	19.4
120	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	19.4
121	🇻🇳 Vietnam	18.8
122	🇽🇰 Kosovo	18.8
123	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	18.6
124	🇧🇾 Belarus	18.4
125	🇮🇶 Iraq	18.3
126	🇺🇦 Ukraine	18.2
127	🇺🇬 Uganda	18.1
128	🇧🇴 Bolivia	18.1
129	🇹🇳 Tunisia	17.8
130	🇮🇩 Indonesia	17.6
131	🇹🇿 Tanzania	17.1
132	🇩🇿 Algeria	16.7
133	🇵🇾 Paraguay	16.6
134	🇮🇷 Iran	16.2
135	🇲🇬 Madagascar	15.4
136	🇸🇾 Syria	15.0
137	🇳🇵 Nepal	14.2
138	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	13.0
139	🇪🇬 Egypt	12.8
140	🇮🇳 India	12.8
141	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	11.6
142	🇱🇾 Libya	11.3
143	🇵🇰 Pakistan	11.3

The World’s Most Expensive Countries

At the top of the ranking sits the Cayman Islands (94.3). Its economy is driven by offshore finance, tourism, and real estate—all industries that attract wealthy residents and investors.

Switzerland (82.3) and Singapore (80.9) follow close behind, a reflection of their developed economies, high wages, and premium real estate markets.

European nations are also common in the top 20, with Iceland, Ireland, and Norway all appearing among the most expensive. These countries tend to offer high standards of living but also face the trade-off of elevated consumer prices.

The World’s Most Affordable Nations

At the other end of the spectrum, Pakistan (11.3), Libya (11.3), and Afghanistan (11.6) have the world’s lowest cost of living scores.

Much of South Asia, including India (12.8) and Bangladesh (13.0), also see prices that are roughly one-eighth of those in New York City. Both of these countries have massive young populations and relatively low wages, which keeps the cost of labor and services down.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The World’s Safest Countries in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

Loading recommendations...