Visualizing How The Cost Of Living Differs Around The World

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.

Rank
Country
Cost 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.