Three Pakistani cities ranked among world’s cheapest

Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva in Switzerland ranked as the world’s most expensive cities, with New York in fourth place

Despite rising utility bills and everyday expenses, three of the world’s cheapest cities are in Pakistan, according to a global cost of living index.

The 2025 Numbeo Cost of Living Index ranked Lahore and Karachi as the third and fourth cheapest cities worldwide, with Islamabad also making the list at 314th place out of 327 cities surveyed.

The index compares global living expenses based on New York City’s cost of living, factoring in rent, groceries, restaurant prices, and purchasing power.

According to the report, Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva in Switzerland were ranked as the world’s most expensive cities, with New York in fourth place.

Swiss cities Basel and Bern took the fifth and sixth spots, while San Francisco and Honolulu in the United States ranked seventh and eighth, respectively. Reykjavik, Iceland, and Boston, USA, completed the top ten most expensive cities.

At the other end of the spectrum, Coimbatore in India was named the world’s cheapest city, followed by Alexandria in Egypt. Lahore and Karachi were found to be 85% cheaper than Zurich, while Islamabad was 83% less expensive.