It is necessary to have a specific amount of money to cover the necessities of life in order to maintain a particular level of living. Housing, food, taxes, & healthcare are among the most basic costs.
A greater cost of living in a city or metropolitan region should be reflected in higher salaries.
Price discrepancies across cities, regions, and countries may be measured by using a living index cost. Rental costs in one place are compared to those in another using the rent index, which is an estimate of the cost of renting an apartment.
Using the restaurant index, pubs and restaurants in one area are compared to those in another. Local purchasing power is a measure of how much an average worker in a specific area can spend on various products and services.
New York City is used as a reference point for the statistics shown here. As a result, New York gets a total index score of 100. In comparison to the expenses of New York City, numbers below 100 are cheaper, while those over 100 are more costly.
Rent in New York City is typically approximately $3,000 per month. There is a large disparity in the cost of living between New York City and other American cities.
Bermuda and Switzerland are the only places in the world where the cost of living is greater than New York City, according to mid-2020 figures. Switzerland’s index is 125.69, whereas Bermuda’s is 147.77.
As no other city has a higher rent index (above 100 points), New York City’s average rent is greater than anywhere else. The cost of living in some overseas places is greater than in New York City, though.
At a score of 21, Pakistan has the world’s lowest cost of living index. Pakistan’s cost of living is 79 percent cheaper than New York City’s cost of living.
In addition, the rent index is 4.28, indicating a 95.72 percent reduction in the cost of renting. India (24.12), Kyrgyzstan (24.70), & Afghanistan (24.12) round out the top five (26.71).
Also See: Corporate Tax Rates by Country 2022
On this page, you’ll find data on everything from the average price of groceries and restaurant meals to housing costs and buying power in each nation.
Ranking | Country | Cost of Living Index | Rent Index | Cost of Living Plus Rent Index | Groceries Index | Restaurant Price Index | Local Purchasing Power Index |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bermuda | 147.7700 | 85.7000 | 117.5400 | 146.6300 | 152.5200 | 78.1700 |
2 | Switzerland | 125.6900 | 51.2000 | 89.4100 | 124.9300 | 118.5500 | 114.8300 |
3 | Norway | 96.8000 | 32.6100 | 65.5400 | 89.5500 | 96.8100 | 83.4000 |
4 | Iceland | 90.1900 | 38.5400 | 65.0400 | 80.9100 | 97.1700 | 74.7800 |
5 | Japan | 86.2200 | 26.1800 | 56.9800 | 86.8400 | 48.0700 | 78.8800 |
6 | Denmark | 85.0200 | 33.1000 | 59.7400 | 65.8600 | 95.7100 | 101.2700 |
7 | Luxembourg | 84.3800 | 55.1100 | 70.1300 | 74.0300 | 86.2900 | 99.8600 |
8 | Bahamas | 84.2500 | 37.0400 | 61.2600 | 64.8900 | 83.2900 | 53.1200 |
9 | Israel | 82.5200 | 29.9600 | 56.9300 | 68.6500 | 86.2500 | 73.9400 |
10 | Singapore | 81.1300 | 61.2700 | 71.4600 | 69.2000 | 58 | 82.6100 |
11 | Barbados | 79.9200 | 20.1600 | 50.8200 | 67.5000 | 68.3400 | 49.2400 |
12 | Ireland | 78.0700 | 41.6300 | 60.3300 | 61.6300 | 76.6100 | 74.5800 |
13 | Hong Kong | 77.9000 | 75.2600 | 76.6200 | 77.4700 | 54.7000 | 67.0200 |
14 | France | 76.3400 | 25.8500 | 51.7500 | 72.3400 | 69.0700 | 76.2100 |
15 | South Korea | 75.9300 | 21.9100 | 49.6300 | 91.3500 | 40.4700 | 81.6700 |
16 | Australia | 75.8900 | 34.1800 | 55.5800 | 70.6200 | 68.8800 | 103.3800 |
17 | Netherlands | 74.6300 | 35.5900 | 55.6200 | 57.8100 | 76.0900 | 86.7600 |
18 | Seychelles | 74.4100 | 30.1100 | 52.8300 | 74.3600 | 75.4700 | 19.7700 |
19 | Belgium | 73.5900 | 24.4000 | 49.6300 | 61.7300 | 75.6200 | 80.1200 |
20 | Finland | 72.7100 | 25.8900 | 49.9100 | 59.6100 | 77.7500 | 93.9400 |
21 | United States | 72.4700 | 40.0700 | 56.6900 | 69.6800 | 68.2900 | 108.2900 |
22 | Sweden | 72.3100 | 25.8600 | 49.6900 | 63.6200 | 71.0300 | 94.0400 |
23 | New Zealand | 71.8300 | 31.7400 | 52.3100 | 66.2900 | 63.0500 | 87.2200 |
24 | Austria | 71.7800 | 26.3200 | 49.6400 | 63.6300 | 66.2400 | 79.3800 |
26 | Puerto Rico | 70.0200 | 18.8900 | 45.1200 | 71.5300 | 57.7400 | 71.1600 |
27 | Malta | 69.2600 | 30.4000 | 50.3400 | 57.9700 | 71.8200 | 44.6500 |
28 | Italy | 68.9500 | 21.4000 | 45.7900 | 58.2900 | 68.8000 | 61.8000 |
29 | Qatar | 67.5400 | 46.0100 | 57.0500 | 59.2000 | 63.9100 | 99.8200 |
30 | Germany | 66.3400 | 26.9900 | 47.1800 | 50.2900 | 60.5300 | 97.4100 |
31 | Canada | 66.1800 | 29.2800 | 48.2100 | 63.4000 | 59.6000 | 83.2200 |
32 | Libya | 66.0600 | 14.8800 | 41.1400 | 76.2500 | 37.6000 | 38.3900 |
33 | United Kingdom | 65.6700 | 28.3100 | 47.4800 | 51.1500 | 68.4500 | 86.9800 |
34 | Lebanon | 64.2600 | 23.1800 | 44.2500 | 50.7000 | 54.7700 | 35.2800 |
35 | United Arab Emirates | 62.9800 | 40.0300 | 51.8100 | 49.2600 | 59.1700 | 86.0600 |
36 | Taiwan | 61.9500 | 16.8700 | 40 | 74.5000 | 26.0300 | 61.3600 |
37 | Cyprus | 59.9300 | 20.5000 | 40.7300 | 47.0400 | 61.8400 | 56.8000 |
38 | Bahrain | 58.3600 | 29.4600 | 44.2900 | 47.9900 | 50.3700 | 56.1700 |
39 | Greece | 57.5000 | 11.8900 | 35.2900 | 43.6700 | 52.4200 | 40.7500 |
40 | Trinidad and Tobago | 56.6600 | 16.8800 | 37.2900 | 54.0800 | 52.5500 | 41.3900 |
41 | Croatia | 56.3100 | 13.7100 | 35.5600 | 50.6000 | 45.5100 | 43.2500 |
42 | Spain | 55.2700 | 21.6900 | 38.9100 | 44.8900 | 51.6800 | 67.7300 |
43 | Slovenia | 55.1700 | 17.4700 | 36.8100 | 46.4200 | 44.1500 | 60.6100 |
44 | Panama | 55.0200 | 23.6000 | 39.7200 | 55.6700 | 46.4300 | 33.7900 |
45 | Palestine | 54.9600 | 9.2900 | 32.7200 | 48.5100 | 37.2600 | 40.9400 |
46 | Ethiopia | 54.8600 | 15.4300 | 35.6600 | 38.0800 | 20.1800 | 9.1300 |
47 | Jamaica | 54.3600 | 15.2600 | 35.3200 | 56.2800 | 34.8200 | 35.5500 |
48 | Costa Rica | 54.2000 | 15.4000 | 35.3100 | 51.1800 | 43.3900 | 36.4300 |
49 | Zimbabwe | 54.0600 | 10.3100 | 32.7500 | 48.4700 | 39.3600 | 22.5900 |
50 | Jordan | 53.4000 | 10.6300 | 32.5700 | 43.0700 | 43.8200 | 34.7000 |
51 | Belize | 53.0800 | 11.6700 | 32.9100 | 46.9800 | 35.4900 | 47.9300 |
52 | Estonia | 52.9300 | 14.5900 | 34.2600 | 39.6700 | 52.3800 | 66.0800 |
53 | Mauritius | 51.7500 | 11.1000 | 31.9600 | 52.0900 | 36.9900 | 28.7900 |
54 | Kuwait | 49.8600 | 29.8400 | 40.1100 | 35.0700 | 43.5400 | 79.3100 |
55 | Fiji | 49.6500 | 17.7900 | 34.1300 | 55.3200 | 37.1100 | 31.4900 |
56 | Portugal | 49.5200 | 20.7800 | 35.5200 | 38.9700 | 39.2600 | 47.1000 |
57 | Oman | 49.4200 | 16.7800 | 33.5200 | 44.8500 | 41.0800 | 87.3000 |
58 | Latvia | 49.1800 | 12.6600 | 31.4000 | 37.1500 | 40.3500 | 49.4900 |
59 | Saudi Arabia | 49.1500 | 11.6100 | 30.8700 | 39.3600 | 31.4200 | 93.8400 |
60 | Thailand | 48.9700 | 16.2900 | 33.0600 | 49.3800 | 23.6400 | 33.0200 |
61 | Suriname | 47.9500 | 9.3600 | 29.1600 | 48.5300 | 44.2100 | 18.5200 |
62 | Cambodia | 47.9100 | 14.3900 | 31.5900 | 47.0400 | 22.5100 | 11.6600 |
63 | Brunei | 47.4900 | 21.9000 | 35.0300 | 44.4800 | 34.0800 | 75.3200 |
64 | Slovakia | 46.8000 | 15.6800 | 31.6500 | 40.7000 | 34.5200 | 53.3900 |
65 | Uruguay | 46.6600 | 13.0400 | 30.2900 | 36.9500 | 43.1300 | 33.7700 |
66 | Chile | 45.4300 | 13.6600 | 29.9600 | 37.7800 | 42.9000 | 35.5500 |
67 | Czech Republic | 45.0500 | 18.3700 | 32.0600 | 38.5300 | 30.8600 | 59.2800 |
68 | El Salvador | 44.9600 | 12.7700 | 29.2900 | 43.8200 | 33.1000 | 22.5600 |
69 | Lithuania | 44.8500 | 13.4400 | 29.5600 | 34.9700 | 40.6400 | 55.5700 |
70 | Guatemala | 44.2300 | 15.1800 | 30.0800 | 38.8400 | 32.2800 | 34.3500 |
71 | Cuba | 43.8500 | 4.3000 | 23.5900 | 38.6300 | 32.1300 | 2.0500 |
72 | Nicaragua | 43.7000 | 7.9300 | 26.2800 | 40.6000 | 29.2600 | 19.6700 |
73 | Honduras | 42.7300 | 10.6900 | 27.1300 | 34.9400 | 28.2200 | 30.0800 |
74 | Dominican Republic | 41.7600 | 10.0500 | 26.3200 | 35.4100 | 35.1000 | 22.6900 |
75 | Ecuador | 40.6200 | 11.6800 | 26.5300 | 35.6800 | 27.6700 | 32.7000 |
76 | Hungary | 40.0900 | 12.6800 | 26.7400 | 31.6000 | 31.0900 | 46.3000 |
77 | Mozambique | 39.9800 | 17.0400 | 28.8100 | 30.7100 | 30.1000 | 15.1700 |
78 | China | 39.5100 | 15.2000 | 27.6700 | 41.3100 | 25.8800 | 60.4400 |
79 | Poland | 39.4600 | 15.7700 | 27.9300 | 30.7200 | 32.4400 | 52.3000 |
80 | Philippines | 39.2500 | 10.1200 | 25.0700 | 36.0400 | 20.6400 | 21.3800 |
81 | Botswana | 39.1300 | 9.7500 | 24.8200 | 34.0100 | 39.1100 | 66.7900 |
82 | Cameroon | 38.9500 | 7.0600 | 23.4200 | 38.4900 | 22.1800 | 16.6000 |
83 | Montenegro | 38.6800 | 10.6000 | 25.0100 | 29.7400 | 30.3500 | 37.5400 |
84 | Ghana | 38.5200 | 20.9300 | 29.9500 | 38.1500 | 26.5400 | 16.0200 |
85 | Iraq | 38.4900 | 10.8400 | 25.0300 | 32.3600 | 30.2100 | 41.5400 |
86 | Somalia | 38.4800 | 5.2200 | 22.2800 | 45.9400 | 25.7500 | 28.9100 |
88 | Myanmar | 38.4700 | 26.7200 | 32.7500 | 39.3500 | 20.6800 | 10.3300 |
87 | Iran | 38.4700 | 16.3400 | 27.6900 | 32.4300 | 24.7000 | 21.8800 |
89 | Bulgaria | 38.3900 | 9.5000 | 24.3200 | 32.3200 | 29.3300 | 44.1100 |
91 | Namibia | 38.1200 | 12.5200 | 25.6500 | 31.8300 | 36.6300 | 58.1200 |
90 | Vietnam | 38.1200 | 13.4800 | 26.1200 | 37.6500 | 19.0600 | 26.9800 |
92 | Malaysia | 38.0900 | 10 | 24.4100 | 38.2200 | 20.5700 | 59.1200 |
93 | Kenya | 37.7500 | 9.3400 | 23.9200 | 34 | 31.2300 | 28.9800 |
94 | Peru | 37.6400 | 12.3300 | 25.3200 | 34.2900 | 23.2900 | 30.6600 |
95 | South Africa | 37.5200 | 14.5200 | 26.3200 | 30.1400 | 33.1800 | 73.5200 |
96 | Serbia | 36.9800 | 9.0700 | 23.3900 | 27.3100 | 28.1400 | 36.0400 |
97 | Albania | 36.9600 | 7.9400 | 22.8300 | 29.7900 | 25.9300 | 28.1200 |
98 | Indonesia | 36.8600 | 10.0200 | 23.7900 | 37.6000 | 17.7400 | 22.1900 |
99 | Tanzania | 36.8500 | 13.2100 | 25.3400 | 32.4400 | 24.0700 | 13.8900 |
100 | Bosnia And Herzegovina | 36.5700 | 6.5900 | 21.9700 | 29.1500 | 24.0500 | 41.5800 |
101 | Romania | 36.2300 | 9.8900 | 23.4000 | 30.5600 | 30.3700 | 46.7000 |
102 | Rwanda | 36.2100 | 14.6400 | 25.7100 | 29.7400 | 30.7400 | 20.5400 |
103 | Bolivia | 36.0200 | 10.7800 | 23.7300 | 31.0700 | 24.8300 | 39.3000 |
104 | Morocco | 34.4400 | 8.5300 | 21.8200 | 30.1400 | 24.2400 | 33.4400 |
105 | Mongolia | 33.9700 | 10.9700 | 22.7700 | 33.6000 | 22.3700 | 28.3800 |
106 | Armenia | 33.7100 | 10.8100 | 22.5600 | 26.3200 | 27.8600 | 26.0900 |
107 | Russia | 33.6600 | 9.6400 | 21.9600 | 27.3600 | 31.1200 | 35.9600 |
108 | Moldova | 33.5200 | 8.3700 | 21.2700 | 25.9800 | 28.7400 | 25.3900 |
109 | Bangladesh | 33.4100 | 5.0400 | 19.5900 | 30.6400 | 19.4200 | 27.5900 |
110 | North Macedonia | 32.9600 | 6.3000 | 19.9800 | 26.7700 | 22.4600 | 33.3000 |
111 | Sri Lanka | 32.9300 | 8.7600 | 21.1600 | 37.3200 | 17.1500 | 21.4200 |
112 | Belarus | 32.6300 | 9.2700 | 21.2500 | 27.7900 | 32.7100 | 33.7000 |
113 | Turkey | 32.4400 | 6.7100 | 19.9100 | 27.7400 | 20.7200 | 38.0400 |
114 | Argentina | 31.1800 | 7.2900 | 19.5500 | 25.1700 | 26.9100 | 43.3800 |
115 | Azerbaijan | 31.1400 | 9.1000 | 20.4100 | 25.1000 | 29.6500 | 27.1900 |
117 | Brazil | 30.9900 | 7.9100 | 19.7500 | 23.5800 | 22.0300 | 30.3600 |
118 | Uganda | 30.9600 | 8.7900 | 20.1700 | 26.1900 | 22.4200 | 14.7300 |
119 | Mexico | 30.9300 | 10.3700 | 20.9100 | 28.9300 | 25.4600 | 38.1700 |
120 | Paraguay | 30.3400 | 9.3700 | 20.1300 | 24.8000 | 23.2500 | 30.9300 |
121 | Ukraine | 30.0500 | 9.0600 | 19.8300 | 24.4000 | 23.8000 | 30.9000 |
122 | Nigeria | 29.7600 | 27.2400 | 28.5300 | 30.3900 | 17.6600 | 11.1000 |
123 | Georgia | 29.7100 | 10.3500 | 20.2800 | 25.3200 | 26.1300 | 24.7700 |
124 | Egypt | 29.5500 | 5.5300 | 17.8500 | 25.5400 | 23.5200 | 21.0900 |
125 | Colombia | 29.0200 | 9.0200 | 19.2800 | 23.9700 | 20.3800 | 27.9200 |
126 | Algeria | 28.8800 | 5.0100 | 17.2500 | 29.2000 | 14.9800 | 26.9000 |
128 | Nepal | 28.1700 | 4.6900 | 16.7300 | 24.9800 | 19.1600 | 20.1700 |
129 | Tunisia | 27.9300 | 5.4900 | 17 | 26.9200 | 14.5100 | 30.2400 |
130 | Uzbekistan | 27.3700 | 7.5900 | 17.7400 | 22.8700 | 21.2500 | 22.2500 |
131 | Syria | 27.0400 | 5.7700 | 16.6800 | 24.4200 | 23.2100 | 9.4800 |
132 | Afghanistan | 26.7100 | 3.9900 | 15.6500 | 18.9900 | 18.4800 | 28.1900 |
133 | Kyrgyzstan | 24.7000 | 7.7800 | 16.4600 | 21.7600 | 20.9600 | 23.5600 |
134 | India | 24.1200 | 5.5000 | 15.0500 | 24.5700 | 16.3800 | 50.5500 |
135 | Pakistan | 21 | 4.2800 | 12.8600 | 18.2100 | 16.2500 | 28.3900 |