Pakistan

Pakistan third cheapest country in the world: report

The most expensive country, meanwhile, is Bermuda

News Desk June 21, 2016

The most expensive country, meanwhile, is Bermuda. PHOTO: REUTERS

An extensive cost of living survey has ranked Pakistan as the third cheapest country in the world.

The cheapest country to feature in the study is India, with a cost of living index of 24.14, followed by Moldova, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Nepal. A little further down the list you'll find Colombia, Serbia, The Philippines, South Africa and Romania.

10 most expensive cities in the world

The survey takes into account the price of around 50 items, including a wide variety of accommodation, food and drink from both supermarkets and restaurants, clothing, taxi fares, leisure activities, utility, internet and mobile phone bills.

The cheapest restaurant meals and apartments are found in Nepal, while Cuba has the cheapest cinema prices, public transport and electricity bills. The cheapest McDonalds combo meal is found in the Ukraine, and the cheapest pair of Levis 501s can be purchased in Uganda.

Of those countries among the cheapest 20, India has the most world heritage sites (32), Colombia has the highest life expectancy (79) and the highest percentage of forested land (54%).

The most expensive cities to live and work

Romania has the best average internet connection speed (12.8mbits per second), Moldova has the fewest roads (9,352kms), Bosnia and Herzogovina is the least urbanised, while a natural disaster is least likely to occur in the Ukraine.

The cheapest countries according to the survey feature are as follows:

1. India

2. Moldova

3. Pakistan

4. Kazakhstan

5. Nepal

6. Ukraine

7. Georgia

8. Algeria

9. Azerbaijan

10. Colombia

11. Tunisia

12. Macedonia

13. Syria

14. Serbia

15. Albania

16. Sri Lanka

17. Bosnia and Herzegovina

18. The Philippines

19. South Africa

20. Romania

The most expensive country, meanwhile, is Bermuda - a British Overseas Territory - which has a cost of living index of 133.68. Switzerland, The Bahamas, Norway and Iceland complete the top five, while the UK comes 12th, and the US 21st.

The most expensive countries rank as follows:

1. Bermuda

2. Switzerland

3. The Bahamas

4. Norway

5. Iceland

6. Denmark

7. Singapore

8. Luxembourg

9. Kuwait

10. Hong Kong

11. Japan

12. United Kingdom

13. Australia

14. New Zealand

15. Ireland

16. Israel

17. Sweden

18. Belgium

19. France

20. Finland

COMMENTS (15)

Rehmat Ali | 8 years ago | Reply 100% agree with this survey! Because once you lived abroad and meet and interact different nationalities then you will realized where we are standing in different rankings.

Sexton Blake | 8 years ago | Reply There are many factors to consider when determining ones quality-of-life. There are various costs such as water supply, health facilities, education, old-age pensions and generally looking after the disadvantaged, just to name a few. Without doing a put down on McDonald's food I have never purchased a McDonald's combo, and if our Governments are using these types of factors to determine our quality of life might I suggest we have problems?

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Haji Atiya | 8 years ago | Reply @Shuaib: Depends on what income bracket one is comparing. For the highly affluent or super rich, it doesn't really matter, they can get along fine either in Pakistan or abroad; for the very poor its a toss up, in Pakistan there may be more family support whereas overseas, especially in developed countries possessing institutionalized social welfare programs, the very poor can benefit from such programs; but for the middleclass, what people don't pay through their personal income taxes to the tax authorities, they have to cough up the same and more through tea money and corruption !

Hans | 8 years ago | Reply Cheap but with low salaries there is no difference at all.

ibs | 8 years ago | Reply I don't find Pakistan to be cheap at all! And yes I've lived in New York! Petrol is more expensive in Pakistan as compared to the US. Milk prices are almost identical, in fact you can find cheaper milk in America sometimes. Fruits & Vegetables are cheaper in Pakistan but rents and housing is expensive!

Syed Fraz Ali | 8 years ago | Reply @Malik saab ,a middle-class salaried person in Pakistan earns between 35000-50000 pkr per month on an average, while in Europe, a middle-class person earns the same amount in an entire year, albeit in Euros. I don't see the point in drawing comparisons between Germany or other European countries and Pakistan and whining over it without accounting for the purchasing power parity and difference in average pays in different regions. You get a burger for 3-5 euros because you earn 3-5 times more in terms of euros in Pakistan, and after discarding the report as baseless, you made another baseless comparison of comparing the accommodation expenses in the most elite areas of Pakistan with the "entire developed world", rather than restricting to be compared with the elite areas in the developed world. And after your infallible critique, you termed all of the crop costs as the costliest in the world. The last one was the best.

Dash | 8 years ago | Reply East or West! Pakistan is the Best :D ;)

HZR | 8 years ago | Reply Is it financial cheapness or literal chessman that is being discussed

imran | 8 years ago | Reply Love Sohnee dhertee.

Shuaib | 8 years ago | Reply @Malik Saab: It's truly odd that people compare the big three Pakistani cities to the West,compare it to London,New York and Copenhagen and then you'll realise how xheap Pakistan is.

Fuzail Zubaid Ahmad | 8 years ago | Reply @Malik saab; you seem to be living in oblivion. Look at purchasing power parity tables from multilateral agencies' website and you will find that Pak Rupee is much stronger than its current value in the currency market.

PakPower | 8 years ago | Reply @Anon: An immature comment deserves an immature response. So here goes... The same can be said about India. The only difference being that it is the cheapest in the world.

Malik Saab | 8 years ago | Reply Totally baseless report. Infact food prices are one of the highest in the world in Pakistan. Also accomodation rates in good locations is at par with the developed world. Check out fruit and milk prices right now. In Europe Milk is available at half of the price compared to Pakistan. In Countries like Germany you get one litre of milk for 45 Cents ( Around 46 Pakistani rupees). Whereas in Pakistan we get it at around 100 Rs Per Liter. Similarly the prices of Lentils, Wheat and Sugar is one of the highest in the world in Pakistan. Even Restaurants are more expensive in Pakistan. A burger costing less than a Euro is infact available for 3-5 Euros in Pakistan.

Shahid Akram | 8 years ago | Reply But at the same income level is very low. another report shows 40 % people in Pakistan live below poverty line.

Anon | 8 years ago | Reply Pakistan is cheap alright - in more ways than one.

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