Cost of living in a global comparison (2024)

Cost of living and purchasing power related to average income

We adjusted the average cost of living inside the USA (based on 2022 and 2023) to an index of 100. All other countries are related to this index. Therefore with an index of e.g. 80, the usual expenses in another country are 20% less then in the United States.

The monthly income (please do not confuse this with a wage or salary) is calculated from the gross national income per capita.

The calculated purchasing power index is again based on a value of 100 for the United States. If it is higher, people can afford more based on the cost of living in relation to income. If it is lower, the population is less wealthy.

The example of Switzerland:
With a cost of living index of 131 all goods are on average about 31% more expensive than in the USA. But the average income in Switzerland of 7,958 USD is also 24% higher, which means that citizens can also afford more goods. Now you calculate the 31% higher costs against the 24% higher income. In the result, people in Switzerland can afford about 5 percent less than a US citizen.

The calculated cost of living index is based on the OECD, the Worldbank, the IMF and Eurostat figures and has been completed by our own researches. It does not take into account the differences between poverty and wealth, as well as prices for goods that do not belong to normal needs. Therefore this list should be regarded as a mathematical theorem. Whether it is realistic to survive with a purchasing power index of 3.6 (Haiti) does not matter in this table. This would correspond to about one-27th of the purchasing power inside the US.

Quality of life in relation to cost of living

In the search for a potential adopted country, the cost of living usually has the highest priority. However, other factors such as medical care or political stability should also be taken into account. In a further evaluation, we compare numerous factors of different countries in order to derive a ranking for the quality of life.

Other indices

There are some other indices, e.g., the study by the Swiss bank UBS issued about every three years or from the EDA (Federal Departement of Foreign Affairs). Both studies refer only to some few and usually large cities in which UBS and Switzerland have representation.

* Dependent territories

The following countries are not sovereign states, but dependent territories or areas of other states:

• Hong Kong: special administrative region of China
• Macao: special administrative region of China

Further information on the definition of a country can be found in our article, What is a country?