Cost of Living Index

What a comparable standard of living costs on the ground — housing, schooling, services and the everyday basket.

Median: 82
Mean: 73
Top decile from: 90
Highest: 95

What this index measures

Moderate · scored 0–100

01
Housing cost in the primary city
02
Private schooling and healthcare costs
03
Everyday basket and services

A higher score means cheaper. Small zero-tax territories score badly here: the tax saving is often spent on rent and imports.

How the score is weighted

Each input is normalised to 0–100 across all 209 jurisdictions, then combined at the weights below. Weights sum to 100 and are held constant across every jurisdiction in an edition, so scores stay comparable.

Moderate in the composite

Housing in the primary city40% of the score
Rent and purchase cost for a comparable household.
Everyday basket and services30% of the score
Groceries, transport, utilities, dining.
Schooling and private healthcare20% of the score
International schooling and private cover.
Price level adjustment10% of the score
Purchasing power parity correction.

Who leads it

The ten highest scores on this signal, with their overall standing beside them — the gap between the two columns is the trade-off.

01
Paraguay
Americas
95ovr 62
02
Nepal
Asia
95ovr 49
03
Bangladesh
Asia
95ovr 45
04
Pakistan
Asia
95ovr 43
05
Afghanistan
Asia
95ovr 24
06
Georgia
Europe
92ovr 69
07
India
Asia
92ovr 54
08
Timor-Leste
Asia
92ovr 48
09
Sierra Leone
Africa
92ovr 46
10
Liberia
Africa
92ovr 44

Distribution · top 60 scoresrange 12–95

How regions compare

Average score per region against its best case. A wide gap means the region is worth searching; a narrow one means the whole region behaves the same way.

Africa
86 / 92
Asia
77 / 95
Oceania
76 / 85
Americas
74 / 95
Middle East
66 / 88
Europe
55 / 92

Full ranking

#	Jurisdiction	Region	Cost	Overall
001	Paraguay	Americas	95	62
002	Nepal	Asia	95	49
003	Bangladesh	Asia	95	45
004	Pakistan	Asia	95	43
005	Afghanistan	Asia	95	24
006	Georgia	Europe	92	69
007	India	Asia	92	54
008	Timor-Leste	Asia	92	48
009	Sierra Leone	Africa	92	46
010	Liberia	Africa	92	44
011	Tajikistan	Asia	92	44
012	Burundi	Africa	92	40
013	DR Congo	Africa	92	34
014	Central African Republic	Africa	92	29
015	South Sudan	Africa	92	26
016	Somalia	Africa	92	26
017	Colombia	Americas	90	61
018	Moldova	Europe	90	55
019	Sri Lanka	Asia	90	53
020	Cambodia	Asia	90	51
021	Nicaragua	Americas	90	49
022	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	90	49
023	Malawi	Africa	90	48
024	Laos	Asia	90	48
025	Togo	Africa	90	46
026	Ethiopia	Africa	90	42
027	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	90	40
028	Niger	Africa	90	36
029	Chad	Africa	90	34
030	Eritrea	Africa	90	34
031	Western Sahara	Africa	90	31
032	North Korea	Asia	90	31
033	Sudan	Africa	90	26
034	Bulgaria	Europe	88	66
035	Albania	Europe	88	62
036	Thailand	Asia	88	60
037	Indonesia	Asia	88	57
038	Vietnam	Asia	88	56
039	Kosovo	Europe	88	54
040	Bhutan	Asia	88	52
041	Guatemala	Americas	88	51
042	Bolivia	Americas	88	50
043	Egypt	Africa	88	49
044	Benin	Africa	88	48
045	Gambia	Africa	88	48
046	Madagascar	Africa	88	48
047	Uganda	Africa	88	47
048	Mozambique	Africa	88	46
049	Comoros	Africa	88	46
050	Honduras	Americas	88	46
051	Nigeria	Africa	88	44
052	Guinea	Africa	88	42
053	Mauritania	Africa	88	42
054	Congo	Africa	88	41
055	Burkina Faso	Africa	88	40
056	Ukraine	Europe	88	39
057	Mali	Africa	88	36
058	Haiti	Americas	88	32
059	Myanmar	Asia	88	32
060	Syria	Middle East	88	27
061	Yemen	Middle East	88	26
062	Montenegro	Europe	85	70
063	Malaysia	Asia	85	66
064	Serbia	Europe	85	64
065	Mexico	Americas	85	61
066	North Macedonia	Europe	85	61
067	Ghana	Africa	85	57
068	Armenia	Asia	85	57
069	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	85	57
070	Peru	Americas	85	56
071	Rwanda	Africa	85	55
072	Senegal	Africa	85	54
073	Kenya	Africa	85	52
074	Tanzania	Africa	85	52
075	Philippines	Asia	85	52
076	Sao Tome & Principe	Africa	85	50
077	El Salvador	Americas	85	50
078	Cuba	Americas	85	50
079	Ivory Coast	Africa	85	49
080	Zambia	Africa	85	49
081	Uzbekistan	Asia	85	49
082	Solomon Islands	Oceania	85	48
083	Djibouti	Africa	85	46
084	Lesotho	Africa	85	44
085	Cameroon	Africa	85	44
086	Zimbabwe	Africa	85	43
087	Angola	Africa	85	43
088	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	85	43
089	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	85	39
090	Venezuela	Americas	85	35
091	Palestine	Middle East	85	30
092	Libya	Africa	85	28
093	Morocco	Africa	82	59
094	Belize	Americas	82	58
095	Dominican Republic	Americas	82	55
096	Ecuador	Americas	82	55
097	Marshall Islands	Oceania	82	51
098	Guyana	Americas	82	50
099	Suriname	Americas	82	50
100	Tuvalu	Oceania	82	50
101	Micronesia	Oceania	82	50
102	Belarus	Europe	82	50
103	Kiribati	Oceania	82	48
104	Eswatini	Africa	82	47
105	Algeria	Africa	82	47
106	Turkmenistan	Asia	82	41
107	Iraq	Middle East	82	34
108	Cape Verde	Africa	80	61
109	Turkey	Asia	80	60
110	Tunisia	Africa	80	59
111	Samoa	Oceania	80	55
112	Tonga	Oceania	80	55
113	Niue	Oceania	80	55
114	Palau	Oceania	80	53
115	Nauru	Oceania	80	48
116	Gabon	Africa	80	46
117	Dominica	Americas	78	68
118	Vanuatu	Oceania	78	64
119	Romania	Europe	78	63
120	Brazil	Americas	78	58
121	Fiji	Oceania	78	58
122	Cook Islands	Oceania	78	58
123	Kazakhstan	Asia	78	57
124	Jamaica	Americas	78	52
125	Azerbaijan	Asia	78	51
126	Lebanon	Middle East	78	42
127	Iran	Middle East	78	38
128	Grenada	Americas	75	70
129	Latvia	Europe	75	69
130	St Vincent & Grenadines	Americas	75	59
131	Botswana	Africa	75	58
132	Argentina	Americas	75	58
133	Namibia	Africa	75	56
134	Trinidad and Tobago	Americas	75	53
135	Mongolia	Asia	75	50
136	Estonia	Europe	72	75
137	St Kitts and Nevis	Americas	72	71
138	St Lucia	Americas	72	69
139	Lithuania	Europe	72	68
140	Costa Rica	Americas	72	66
141	Barbados	Americas	72	65
142	South Africa	Africa	72	57
143	Jordan	Middle East	72	54
144	Panama	Americas	70	68
145	Maldives	Asia	70	62
146	Russia	Europe	70	48
147	Uruguay	Americas	68	66
148	Chile	Americas	68	65
149	Seychelles	Africa	68	62
150	Malta	Europe	65	72
151	Antigua and Barbuda	Americas	65	70
152	Greece	Europe	65	67
153	Poland	Europe	65	64
154	Cyprus	Europe	62	75
155	Bahamas	Americas	62	69
156	Mauritius	Africa	62	67
157	Hungary	Europe	62	61
158	Portugal	Europe	60	75
159	Croatia	Europe	60	67
160	Slovakia	Europe	60	64
161	British Virgin Islands	Americas	58	74
162	Spain	Europe	58	72
163	Czech Republic	Europe	58	67
164	Oman	Middle East	58	63
165	Slovenia	Europe	55	68
166	Italy	Europe	55	66
167	Brunei	Asia	55	64
168	Bahrain	Middle East	55	60
169	Saudi Arabia	Middle East	55	59
170	China	Asia	55	46
171	Germany	Europe	50	68
172	Taiwan	Asia	50	67
173	Kuwait	Middle East	50	56
174	San Marino	Europe	48	73
175	South Korea	Asia	48	65
176	Israel	Middle East	48	62
177	UAE	Middle East	48	59
178	Gibraltar	Europe	45	76
179	Andorra	Europe	45	75
180	France	Europe	45	65
181	Macau	Asia	45	62
182	Canada	Americas	42	66
183	Japan	Asia	42	65
184	Belgium	Europe	42	64
185	Qatar	Middle East	42	59
186	New Zealand	Oceania	40	73
187	Netherlands	Europe	40	67
188	Austria	Europe	40	67
189	Australia	Oceania	38	70
190	Finland	Europe	38	68
191	USA	Americas	38	53
192	Cayman Islands	Americas	35	77
193	Isle of Man	Europe	35	73
194	Singapore	Asia	35	73
195	Ireland	Europe	35	66
196	Sweden	Europe	35	66
197	Vatican City	Europe	35	64
198	United Kingdom	Europe	35	62
199	Jersey	Europe	30	73
200	Guernsey	Europe	30	73
201	Iceland	Europe	30	70
202	Bermuda	Americas	28	73
203	Hong Kong	Asia	28	60
204	Denmark	Europe	25	65
205	Luxembourg	Europe	22	67
206	Norway	Europe	22	66
207	Liechtenstein	Europe	20	69
208	Switzerland	Europe	18	72
209	Monaco	Europe	12	72

At the other end

The five lowest scores on this signal: Monaco (12), Switzerland (18), Liechtenstein (20), Norway (22), Luxembourg (22). A weak score here is not disqualifying on its own — read it against the composite.

Where this comes from

Each input is normalised to a 0–100 scale and weighted into the score above. We cite the underlying publication rather than the aggregator wherever one exists.

Edition 2026.1 · reviewed quarterly

01Cost of Living Index (New York = 100)
Numbeo
Baseline basket, rent and everyday price levels by city.
02International Comparison Program
World Bank
Purchasing power parity adjustment between jurisdictions.
03Prices and purchasing power parities
OECD
Cross-check on price levels for advanced economies.