The cheapest cities in the world
This 2017 ranking is based on the latest survey conducted by Mercer. It is an analysis of the cost of living for an European expatriate.
The tables below present a ranking of cities, from the cheapest one to the most expensive, in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.
Read also: The most expensive cities
Africa
| Regional ranking | Global ranking(1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Tunis | Tunisia |
| 2 | 4 | Windhoek | Namibia |
| 3 | 5 | Blantyre | Malawi |
| 4 | 11 | Cape Town | South Africa |
| 5 | 14 | Gaborone | Botswana |
| 6 | 18 | Banjul | Gambia |
| 7 | 19 | Johannesburg | South Africa |
| 8 | 21 | Nouakchott | Mauritania |
| 9 | 22 | Maputo | Mozambique |
| 10 | 23 | Algiers | Algeria |
| 11 | 24 | Kampala | Uganda |
| 12 | 26 | Cairo | Egypt |
| 13 | 39 | Port-Louis | Mauritius |
| 14 | 41 | Rabat | Morocco |
| 15 | 46 | Dar Es Salam | Tanzania |
| 16 | 52 | Niamey | Niger |
| 17 | 54 | Harare | Zimbabwe |
| 18 | 57 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso |
| 19 | 63 | Kigali | Rwanda |
| 20 | 66 | Lomé | Togo |
| 21 | 71 | Cotonou | Benin |
| 22 | 74 | Addis-Abeba | Ethiopia |
| 23 | 80 | Casablanca | Morocco |
| 24 | 84 | Bamako | Mali |
| 27 | 99 | Nairobi | Kenya |
| 28 | 116 | Douala | Cameroon |
| 29 | 117 | Dakar | Senegal |
| 30 | 119 | Conakry | Guinea Conakry |
| 31 | 126 | Bangui | Central African Republic |
| 32 | 140 | Yaoundé | Cameroon |
| 33 | 151 | Abuja | Nigeria |
| 34 | 156 | Accra | Ghana |
| 35 | 161 | Djibouti | Djibouti |
| 36 | 168 | Abidjan | Côte d’Ivoire |
| 37 | 178 | Libreville | Gabon |
| 38 | 180 | Brazzaville | DR Congo |
| 39 | 182 | Lagos | Nigeria |
| 40 | 195 | N’Djaména | Chad |
| 41 | 197 | Victoria | Seychelles |
| 42 | 209 | Luanda | Angola |
Near and Middle East *
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 68 | Istanbul | Turkey |
| 2 | 93 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
| 3 | 99 | Kuwait | Kuwait |
| 4 | 118 | Muscat | Oman |
| 5 | 129 | Doha | Qatar |
| 6 | 151 | Amman | Jordan |
| 7 | 155 | Manama | Bahrain |
| 8 | 158 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia |
| 8 | 158 | Beirut | Lebanon |
| 9 | 188 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates |
| 10 | 191 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates |
Europe
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Skopje | Republic of Macedonia |
| 2 | 6 | Tbilissi | Georgia |
| 3 | 8 | Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 4 | 10 | Minsk | Belarus |
| 5 | 12 | Belgrade | Serbia |
| 6 | 21 | Tirana | Albania |
| 7 | 26 | Sofia | Bulgaria |
| 8 | 29 | Bucarest | Roumania |
| 9 | 30 | Warsaw | Poland |
| 10 | 34 | Budapest | Hungary |
| 11 | 37 | Limassol | Cyprus |
| 12 | 38 | Leipzig | Germany |
| 13 | 40 | Belfast | Northern Ireland |
| 14 | 42 | Nuremberg | Germany |
| 15 | 43 | Vilnius | Lituania |
| 16 | 47 | Kiev | Ukraine |
| 17 | 49 | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
| 17 | 49 | Glasgow | Scotland / United Kingdom |
| 18 | 50 | Tallinn | Estonia |
| 19 | 51 | Zagreb | Croatia |
| 20 | 63 | Bratislava | Slovakia |
| 20 | 63 | Birmingham | England / United Kingdom |
| 21 | 64 | Aberdeen | Scotland / United Kingdom |
| 22 | 66 | Athens | Greece |
| 23 | 69 | Stuttgart | Germany |
| 24 | 73 | Lisbon | Portugal |
| 25 | 78 | Prague | Czech Republic |
| 26 | 84 | Riga | Lettonie |
| 27 | 88 | Düsseldorf | Germany |
| 28 | 89 | Barcelona | Spain |
| 29 | 90 | Berlin | Germany |
| 30 | 93 | Frankfurt | Germany |
| 31 | 99 | Madrid | Spain |
| 32 | 103 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| 33 | 104 | Stockholm | Sweden |
| 34 | 106 | Brussels | Belgium |
| 35 | 112 | Munich | Germany |
| 36 | 122 | Helsinki | Finland |
| 37 | 125 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 38 | 130 | Rome | Italy |
| 39 | 132 | Vienna | Austria |
| 40 | 139 | Milan | Italy |
| 41 | 144 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 42 | 148 | Paris | France |
| 43 | 164 | Oslo | Norway |
| 44 | 175 | Saint Petersburg | Russia |
| 45 | 183 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 46 | 197 | Moscow | Russia |
| 47 | 200 | Bern | Switzerland |
| 48 | 203 | Geneva | Switzerland |
| 49 | 206 | Zurich | Switzerland |
Asia
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Bichkek | Kirghizstan |
| 2 | 9 | Karachi | Pakistan |
| 3 | 15 | Erevan | Armenia |
| 4 | 26 | Calcutta | India |
| 5 | 28 | Baku | Azerbaijan |
| 6 | 35 | Almaty | Kazakhstan |
| 7 | 37 | Islamabad | Pakistan |
| 8 | 44 | Bangalore | India |
| 9 | 45 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia |
| 10 | 75 | Chennai | India |
| 11 | 78 | Colombo | Sri Lanka |
| 12 | 87 | Tachkent | Uzbekistan |
| 13 | 95 | Phnom Penh | Cambodia |
| 14 | 110 | Hanoi | Vietnam |
| 14 | 110 | Bandar Seri Begawan | Brunei |
| 15 | 111 | New Delhi | India |
| 16 | 113 | Ho-Chi-Minh-Town | Vietnam |
| 17 | 115 | Manila | Philippine |
| 18 | 122 | Jakarta | Indonesia |
| 19 | 143 | Yangon | Birmania |
| 19 | 143 | Bangkok | Thailand |
| 20 | 153 | Bombay | India |
| 20 | 153 | Achgabat | Turkmenistan |
| 21 | 164 | Chengdu | China |
| 22 | 165 | Qingdao | China |
| 23 | 168 | Shenyang | China |
| 24 | 173 | Dacca | Bengladesh |
| 24 | 173 | Tianjin | China |
| 25 | 176 | Nagoya | Japan |
| 26 | 178 | Nankin | China |
| 27 | 186 | Taipei | Taiwan |
| 28 | 190 | Osaka | Japan |
| 29 | 192 | Canton | China |
| 30 | 198 | Shenzhen | China |
| 31 | 199 | Beijing | China |
| 32 | 202 | Shanghai | China |
| 33 | 204 | Seoul | South Korea |
| 34 | 205 | Singapore | Singapore |
| 35 | 207 | Tokyo | Japon |
| 36 | 208 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
Americas*
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Monterrey | Mexico |
| 2 | 13 | Tegucigalpa | Honduras |
| 3 | 16 | Managua | Nicaragua |
| 4 | 17 | La Paz | Bolivia |
| 5 | 32 | Asunción | Paraguay |
| 6 | 33 | Mexico | Mexico |
| 7 | 54 | San Salvador | El Salvador |
| 8 | 55 | Kingston | Jamaica |
| 9 | 57 | Bogota | Colombia |
| 10 | 58 | Ottawa | Canada |
| 11 | 59 | Havana | Cuba |
| 12 | 60 | Saint-Domingue | Dominican Republic |
| 13 | 67 | Calgary | Canada |
| 14 | 76 | Port-au-Prince | Haiti |
| 15 | 81 | Montreal | Canada |
| 16 | 84 | Brasilia | Brazil |
| 17 | 87 | Quito | Ecuador |
| 18 | 91 | Toronto | Canada |
| 19 | 95 | Portland | United States |
| 20 | 99 | Guatemala | Guatemala |
| 21 | 100 | San Jose | Costa Rica |
| 22 | 103 | Vancouver | Canada |
| 22 | 103 | Pittsburgh | United States |
| 23 | 106 | Lima | Perou |
| 24 | 110 | Saint-Louis | United States |
| 25 | 115 | Detroit | United States |
| 26 | 122 | Panama | Panama |
| 27 | 124 | Minneapolis | United States |
| 28 | 127 | Atlanta | United States |
| 29 | 129 | Morristown | United States |
| 30 | 134 | Seattle | United States |
| 31 | 135 | Port of Spain | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 32 | 136 | Houston | United States |
| 33 | 143 | Santiago | Chile |
| 34 | 145 | Montevideo | Uruguay |
| 35 | 146 | White Plains | United States |
| 36 | 148 | Dallas | United States |
| 37 | 154 | Rio De Janeiro | Brazil |
| 38 | 159 | Boston | United States |
| 39 | 169 | Miami | United States |
| 40 | 175 | Honolulu | United States |
| 41 | 179 | Chicago | United States |
| 42 | 187 | Los Angeles | United States |
| 43 | 189 | San Francisco | United States |
| 44 | 201 | New York | United States |
Oceania
| Regional ranking | Global ranking (1) | Town | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 124 | Wellington | New Zealand |
| 2 | 133 | Adelaide | Australia |
| 3 | 139 | Canberra | Australia |
| 3 | 139 | Brisbane | Australia |
| 4 | 149 | Auckland | New Zeland |
| 5 | 160 | Perth | Australia |
| 6 | 164 | Melbourne | Australia |
| 7 | 186 | Sydney | Australia |
