The cheapest cities in the world

Magazine Issue:

Gulf insurers up against changing times [3]

Magazine date:

Jan 2018

Atlas Magazine invites you to discover the living cost of major cities in several continents.

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 [4]

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

^* including Turkey

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

^* North America, South and Central America

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

⁽¹⁾ This 2017 ranking is based on the latest survey conducted by MercerSource : https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Portals/0/Content/Rankings/rankings/col2017a986532/index.html

Read also:

Africa: Insurance in countries with the continent’s richest inhabitants [5]