Ever wondered where in the world is the most expensive place to live?

Using the latest data from Numbeo's Cost of Living Index, we've identified the countries where day-to-day life comes with a higher price tag. The index scores are percentages of the cost of living in New York City, which therefore has an index score of 100. This means that countries scoring below 100 are cheaper to live in than The Big Apple, while countries scoring above 100 are more expensive.

Read on to discover the 30 countries with the highest cost of living rates. All dollar amounts in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Cyprus sits near the coasts of Greece and Türkiye, but it's not nearly so close when it comes to prices. The overall cost of living in the sun-drenched island nation is 6.5% more than in Greece and a whopping 42.6% higher than in Türkiye. Rental prices largely drive the disparities. An estate agent quoted by the Cyprus Mail in January said average apartment rentals now top €1800 ($1.9k/£1.5k) per month. Houses, of course, cost even more, at almost €3250 ($3.4k/£2.7k) per month, he said. 

That said, the Cypriot cost of living index as reported by Numbeo has fallen since last year, when it stood at 54.7 – more than 10% higher than today. As with many other countries in our selection, this probably reflects easing inflation and energy prices. 

Tucked away in central America, Costa Rica makes its debut in the top 30 with a cost-of-living index of 50.1, according to Numbeo. Thanks to its high environmental standards it’s become a destination for eco-conscious tourists over the years, and many American, Canadian and European expats are also drawn there – in part by its relative affordability. But that doesn’t mean Costa Rica is necessarily cheap. 

Despite a government-run universal healthcare system and much more affordable accommodation than, say, the United States, it’s expensive within its region – over 14% more so than neighbouring Panama, for instance. Inflation in recent years and a strengthening currency haven’t made the country any cheaper in dollar terms. 

In 28th place is Jamaica which has a cost of living index of 50.3 – just about half of New York City’s score. Yet sometimes, prices are not far off what you’d find in a much richer country like the United States. Groceries are a case in point: a box of 12 eggs, for example, will set you back the equivalent of $3.35 (£2.66) in Jamaica and $3.95 (£3.13) in America. Meanwhile, a litre of milk is actually more expensive on the island – more than three times more – at the equivalent of $3.41 (£2.71) versus $1.05 (£0.83) in the States. This is partly due to the cost of importing goods from overseas, a factor affecting several other countries on our list. Rents in Jamaica, however, are relatively affordable.  

Italy may be considerably cheaper than some other European nations, but la dolce vita still comes at a price. The world's 27th most expensive country, it can be a costly place to indulge in retail therapy: the average pair of leather business shoes costs over $118 (£94). A McDonald's standard meal costs over $10 (£8), and renting a one bed apartment in a city typically costs $779 (£610) a month which is almost half the average monthly net salary.  

The good news is that groceries and alcohol are both a bit more affordable, contributing to very reasonable restaurant costs overall. Not bad for a nation world-famous for its cuisine!

Residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) enjoy high average salaries, and what’s more they pay no income tax on them. This must come as a relief as things can be very expensive. It’s well over $6000 (£4.7k) a square meter to purchase a city apartment, while rents are a third higher than even the United Kingdom – itself hardly a cheap place for tenants. Meanwhile, a standard hatchback like a VW Golf will set you back a substantial $44,633 (£35.4k). Partly this reflects the 5% sales tax that’s applied to all goods and services. After all, building a metropolis in the desert doesn’t pay for itself…

On the bright side, a litre of petrol in the oil-rich UAE is just $0.78 ((£0.62). Utilities too are much more affordable than they are elsewhere. Numbeo says that overall, the cost of living is more than 9% lower than it is in the UK.

At number 25, Sweden has maintained its position in the ranking since last year. It might come as a surprise to find it so low down the list: although it’s notably cheaper than its Nordic neighbours, it has high sales taxes, meaning everything from food and drink to clothes can be more expensive than elsewhere.

A pair of jeans for example, will cost more than $82 (£65) while a McDonald's meal comes in at $9.79 (£7.77). But despite these costs, residents are clearly "lovin' it" in the Scandinavian country: Numbeo ranks Sweden as “very high” in its Quality of Life index, higher than the UK, US, or Canada.

New Zealand has fallen a lot in the current rankings – down from 13th most expensive place in 2024 to just the 24th spot now. Its recent bout of economic difficulty could be to blame. 

However, the country still has to import many of its goods, which are saddled with import taxes, and that keeps its cost of living score elevated to some extent. Moreover, housing is expensive, particularly in Auckland, where the average apartment purchase price is more than $7,800 (£6.2k) a square metre – almost as much as the suburbs of Sydney and far more than many European cities. 

Another non-mover in our selection, Belgium is the 23rd most expensive country with a Numbeo score of 56.5 – nearly five points less than last year. As the epicentre of European politics, the most expensive city is of course Brussels, where school fees can be around $19,500 (£15.5k) per child and a mid-range meal for two will set you back almost $90 (£79).  

In fact, eating out is particularly costly across the nation. Numbeo ranks its restaurant index higher even than countries like Canada, Australia, and Singapore that have a more significant cost of living score overall. That said, Belgians can enjoy a half litre of their world-famous domestic beer for the equivalent of just $4.50 (£3.57).

South Korea tends to be expensive for imported goods while home produce can be much better value. A bottle of mid-range wine for instance could leave you over $20 (£15.90) worse off in the capital Seoul, but a cheap meal can be had for $8.30 (£6.60) – presumably, without any wine at all. 

All this makes the country a considerably more expensive place to live than China, but if you compare it to western countries it’s remarkably affordable. Excluding rents, for example, Seoul is nearly 17% cheaper than London, while rents themselves are an eye-popping 62.6% lower, according to Numbeo’s figures. 

In common with many other countries, France has seen its Numbeo cost of living score come down quite a bit over recent months – and it’s making for a slightly more comfortable ranking, as the country has now fallen from 15th to 21st position in our ranking. Still, with taxes and high wages, it’s not the cheapest place to be. 

A kilo of beef for example is almost $19.50 (£15.47) while a hatchback car costs $33,869 (£26.8k). In Paris – once rated the most expensive city in the world – the price of that car would buy you less than three square metres of an apartment since it costs a massive $12,684 (£10k) per metre to buy accommodation there. One area that’s much more bon marché is public transport though: a single journey in the capital will only set you back around $2.60 (£2.07) thanks to relatively high subsidies. 

The 20th most expensive country is Germany, according to Numbeo’s research. Prices here seem to be a mixed bag, with groceries and restaurant bills comparatively low, and rents some 25% lower than the United Kingdom. However, basic utilities are much higher. The electricity, heating and waste disposal for an average sized apartment is over $315 (£255) a month, for instance. 

Inflation in Germany is now easing and food prices in particular are less of a problem than they were a year ago. Energy prices have also started to ease. However, services like insurance and health are bucking the trend, and inhibiting a greater reduction in the headline inflation rate. 

It might be a cheaper place to live than its North American neighbour, but Canada's prices are still consistently high across the board.

Milk is particularly costly, coming in at more than double the American price at the Canadian equivalent of $2.15 (£1.71) a litre. Like for like, it’s much more expensive than petrol which costs $1.13 (£0.90) a litre – though of course, milk tastes better.

Looking ahead, the cost of many goods could rise substantially if the country enters a trade war with its southern neighbour. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has said American tariffs on Canadian goods could cost each citizen over $1300 (£1k) each, while retaliatory tariffs from Ottawa would lead to a 4.1% spike in consumer prices. 

Finland is another pricy nation, with mobile phone contracts, mortgage interest and foodstuffs such as chicken all costing more than they do elsewhere. On a brighter note, at $321 (£255) the monthly cost of a kindergarten place is relatively modest. 

Another thing to bear in mind is that Finland has topped the UN World Happiness Report for the last seven years, most recently receiving the accolade in March 2024. Before landing first place in 2018, it featured in the top five every year since the report's inception in 2013. According to the Finnish Happiness Institute, proximity to nature is a big reason for the country’s success. Some things are more important than economics, it seems. 

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an unincorporated US territory and comes in at 17th in the rankings. The cost of certain goods is quite low, including a litre of petrol ($0.97/£0.77) and a meal at McDonalds ($9/£7.14). Interestingly, some of the more active or healthy options are relatively dearer. Among those items are apples, tennis court rental and a one-month public transport pass. 

Overall, the cost of living on the island nation is more expensive than it is in Italy, Sweden, and Japan. However, it's still significantly cheaper than the US, from where Puerto Rico imports most of its goods. 

The overall figures reported by Numbeo often hide geographical extremes within countries and the economically disparate UK is no exception. In London for instance, a meal out for two people typically costs more than $100 (£79) and an apartment costs an eye-watering $20297 (£16k) per metre to buy. Yet in the northern city of Middlesbrough, that meal would cost two thirds of the price and that apartment  just $2519 (£1.9k) a metre – an eighth of the price. Many other items mirror this trend. 

In fact, though it might surprise some citizens, the UK was a newcomer to the top 30 most expensive countries as recently as 2023. It’s now the 16th priciest, despite its cheaper regions. And all over the country, people are braced for costs to continue rising, as rising employment costs and persistent above-target inflation take their toll. 

UK prices may be heading north but for the most part the cost of living in neighbouring Ireland remains even higher, with items from groceries to petrol all that bit more expensive. In some cases, like cars, they’re significantly more expensive, and part of the reason is the Republic’s higher sales tax, which at 23% is 3% greater than the UK’s rate. Meanwhile, Dublin is the sixth most expensive city in the world to lease accommodation, despite (or perhaps because of) rent controls. 

Still, a few things in Ireland are cheaper than they are next door. These include monthly utility bills, which at $223.48 (£177) are now only around three quarters of the British cost. Property, beef and draft domestic beer are also less expensive. They do say the Guinness goes down better when you drink it locally. 

Life in the Netherlands is far from cheap, with staples like chicken, rice and potatoes, as well as cars, all firmly in the upper half of Numbeo’s international price range. A litre of petrol is $2.03 (£1.60) at the time of writing. 

On the plus side, these prices go some way to explaining why the nation is one of the least polluted countries on our list. Indeed, the Netherlands comes second in Numbeo's Quality of Life Index despite being the world's 14th most expensive nation to live in.

Landlocked in the heart of Europe, Austria now ranks 13th on our list. The country's inflation rate has bounced back a little recently and prices of household goods and services remain stubbornly high. Utilities seem particularly expensive, at over $353 (£280) a month for an average apartment. 

Even so, Vienna, the Austrian capital, scored first place in Mercer's Quality of Living City Ranking for 10 consecutive years between 2009 and 2019. So while keeping the lights on at home might be expensive, the locals don't seem to be complaining.

Like neighbouring New Zealand, Australia relies heavily on imports, and most of those have to travel a long way to reach it, pushing up prices of many everyday items. An imported bottle of beer, for example, costs $7 (£5.56), while food prices have risen faster than the long-term average. Even so, the country’s Numbeo cost of living index score is down a lot since last year, from 70.2 to 60.9 now, suggesting it might be easing.

Australia’s underlying inflation fell to 3.2% at the end of 2024 which could help explain the fall. And in light of this, the Central Bank has since cut interest rates for the first time since the pandemic, which should help ease pressures for borrowers and consumers more generally. 

Tiny Luxembourg is one of the few entries in our list where the Numbeo cost of living index has increased since last year: it’s up from 62.4 to 64.8, which brings the country up the rankings from the 20th to the 11th most expensive in the world. Groceries, meat, cheese and property are among the areas that are notably high priced. 

On the other hand, Luxembourg has a very high average monthly salary of over $5850 (£4.6k) after tax, so perhaps spending isn’t all that painful for many people. And even those on an economy drive would find it easy enough take the bus or tram – because they’re completely free. Luxembourg became the first country in the world to scrap public transport fares in 2020. 

Kicking off the top ten most expensive countries in the world is the United States with a Numbeo index score of 64.9 which, to recap, means the country as a whole has a cost of living 64.9% of its biggest conurbation, New York City. 

With a high level of competition and plentiful supplies of most items, the US enjoys good value in quite a few areas. Petrol, clothing and groceries tend to compare well – notwithstanding the current egg shortage which has seen prices spike by over a third due to bird flu. However, healthcare is eye wateringly expensive: the average insurance premium for a single person last year was nearly $9000 (£7.2k), while rent is also sky-high. A one-bedroom city centre apartment costs around $1,741 (£1.4k) per month. 

It remains to be seen how Donald Trump’s proposed tariff increases will impact general living costs, but many observers expect them to be inflationary. 

Israel’s another country that’s shot up the rankings this year, from 19th to ninth most expensive country with its cost of living index score of 65.2 having increased. Research by the Israeli Federation of Labour Unions has found that housing, electricity, food and beverages have all grown more expensive in Israel, compared with the OECD average. Meanwhile, late last year the state comptroller reported that low wages are to blame for reducing Israelis’ purchasing power.

It all adds up to some eye-opening figures: a pair of leather shoes costs $132 (£105); a meal for two will lighten your wallet by $85 (£68) – and a standard hatchback car like a VW Golf is a staggering $42,245 (£34k). 

Mind you, if you wanted that VW Golf, you’d be even worse off buying it in Copenhagen where it would cost $44,859 (£35.7k). Scandinavia’s not known as a cheap destination – three of our top ten countries are in the region – and Denmark is the eighth most expensive in the world. Petrol for that car will cost you $2 a litre (£1.60), and if you console yourself with a restaurant meal the bill will be almost $100 (£79.50) for two. 

Unlike Israel though, people in Denmark may be less likely to complain about poor pay because local purchasing power is high, meaning residents are better equipped to cope with the burdensome cost of living.

Another Scandinavian country, Norway, has seen its index score fall significantly since last year, from 76 points to 69, and its ranking has dropped one place to the seventh most expensive country. At 25%, it has one of the world’s highest sales tax rates, which pushes up the cost of most everyday items. Alcohol is especially costly, with a half-litre of imported beer setting drinkers back almost $10 (£7.95). Food has a lower tax rate of 15% but it’s still considered expensive, with a kilo of beef at $26.18 (£21). 

One cost that might become more predictable for Norwegians is electricity: the government wants to offer consumers a fixed price per kilowatt and share less with neighbours via interconnectors, which it says puts pressure on domestic prices.

Most commodities are imported into Barbados, contributing to its steep cost of living, while local purchasing power ranks low. However, the island’s index score has dropped from 76.6 and now sits at 70.0, suggesting that prices have at least eased a little.

In 2022, the government launched measures to lower inflation, with measures including temporarily reducing VAT on energy bills and reducing the price of essential foods. Yet some of the figures reported by Numbeo are still sobering, with a litre of milk as much as $3.53 (£2.81) and a restaurant meal for two costing no less than $100 (£79.50).

It's a difficult situation, but at least Barbadians will be able to appraise it with ease: the government’s also poured money into their predominantly state-owned education system which now has one of the world's highest literacy rates at 99.7%.

With Hong Kong, we move into the top five most expensive countries in the world. Although it’s a special administrative region of China, the cost of living there is far higher than in the mainland, meaning residents need increasingly deep pockets to get by.

On average, Hong Kong's consumer prices, including rent, are around 200% more expensive than in China, while petrol is nearly twice as pricey. As you might expect in such a populous and crowded island, property to purchase is especially expensive. According to Numbeo, it costs a stratospheric $26,401 (£21k) per square metre to buy a flat. That’s half as much again as the price in New York City. 

Another island, Singapore is a non-mover in fourth place and with an index score of 79.1, it’s one of the few countries in our list to have a higher index score than last year. 

Alcohol is considered a luxury item and is extortionately expensive, with a mid-range bottle of wine costing over $23 (£18). Meanwhile renting a one-bed apartment in the city centre costs an average of almost $2,930 (£2.3k) per month, and buying a new car is more expensive in Singapore than in almost any other country due to the government saddling purchases with taxes and tariffs as a form of traffic control. (Motorists must also pay to drive according to the route they take and time of day.)  

To try and combat rising costs and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of  independence, Singapore’s giving each household the equivalent of $596 (£473) in spending vouchers this year, with citizens over 60 getting double that and those over 21 getting an extra $447 (£355). There’ll be an income tax rebate of up to $149 (£118) too. And there's more good news: inflation has just softened to its lowest rate since February 2021.

The third most expensive slot is yet another island nation. The sun-kissed Bahamas may be like paradise for visitors, but residents are stuck with a high cost of living.

A meal for two in the archipelago costs more than any other country we’ve surveyed, weighing in at $130 (£103) while a bottle of wine alone will set you back $25 (£20). Even staples like milk, eggs and bread are expensive, with prices hiked by the need to import so many items. Meanwhile high taxes add to the cost, with approximately 25% of government revenue coming from import and export duties.

Iceland’s not only another island which has to source many things it needs from overseas, but it also has tight regulations on importing goods, and that drives up prices further still. 

The country's groceries are among the most expensive in the world, with milk, eggs, chicken, and beef all comparatively costly. Almost everything else, from leather shoes ($222/£176) through domestic beer ($10.69/£8.49) to a McDonald’s meal ($17.82/£14.15) is similarly steep.  

There's some relief when it comes to the monthly cost of utilities though, as Iceland enjoys relatively inexpensive geothermal heating and hydropower.

And the most expensive country in the world, once again, is Switzerland. 

Home to the best quality watches, posh chocolate and private banks, perhaps it’s little surprise that life in the mountains is no bargain basement. In fact, with an overall index score of 98.4, Switzerland’s pretty much as expensive as New York City. Still, last year the score was 101.1 – meaning it was then even more expensive than the Big Apple. 

What’s more, far from Manhattan’s traffic fumes, all that Alpine fresh air helps the country achieve a ‘very high’ quality of life score, while Numbeo also rates Swiss purchasing power as ‘very high’, meaning most citizens enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. High in their superb Alpine homeland, the Swiss are on top of the world. 

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