Cost of Living by Country

[imoldernu]

I suppose those who travel internationally wil not be surprised by this, but it was all a surprise to me. Given a list of the countries by name only, could you separate the top half from the bottom half?

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp

We've decided to not move to the Cayman Islands.

 

[ckelly78z]

We've decided to not move to the Cayman Islands.

It does prop up one of our favorite places however...Jamaica compared to the United States.

25 United States 70.95 40.50 56.39 67.10 70.76 119.1

41 Jamaica 56.44 14.76 36.51 55.76 39.88 35.39

 

[Fermion]

Oh my! Afghanistan is so cheap! That is it, I am retiring there.

 

[LRDave]

Columbia jumps out to me as the best of the bottom 30. Columbia is considered pretty safe and tourist friendly these days.

 

[Fermion]

Columbia jumps out to me as the best of the bottom 30. Columbia is considered pretty safe and tourist friendly these days.

Free medical care too...well, amputations are free at least.

 

[aja8888]

Free medical care too...well, amputations are free at least.

Free drugs, too!

 

[Nemo2]

Columbia jumps out to me as the best of the bottom 30. Columbia is considered pretty safe and tourist friendly these days.

Housing is expensive in Vancouver though.

 

[brett]

It is interesting. It corresponds to our experiences in the winter. Month in Thailand, month in Australia, and two days in Hawaii on the way home.

Just came back from an extended trip in Greece and Cyprus and home via London. The numbers (restaurant) checked out from our perspective.

Morocco is on our horizon for next year. The numbers look good for three weeks or so of travel from a cost perspective.

 

[camfused]

How on earth can it be cheaper to live in the UK than the US? I am doubting this data.

 

[Aus_E_Expat]

Interesting list but I am not sure I agree with it.

For example, I find Japan now to be much cheaper than Singapore and Hong Kong.

Did they adjust for local currency in compiling the list because if it was in US$ I think it is way out.

 

[zinger1457]

Interesting list but I am not sure I agree with it.

For example, I find Japan now to be much cheaper than Singapore and Hong Kong.

Did they adjust for local currency in compiling the list because if it was in US$ I think it is way out.

The Cost of Living Index doesn't include rent. You need to look at the 'Cost of Living Plus Rent Index' to get a more complete picture, in that case Singapore and Hong Kong have a higher Index than Japan.

 

[Alan]

How on earth can it be cheaper to live in the UK than the US? I am doubting this data.

Having moved back over 3 years I can confirm that it is.

The UK taxes we personally pay are less than the US taxes + healthcare than we pay. (We have to file US taxes every year then take foreign tax credits for the taxes paid which reduces our US taxes to zero and I know what our healthcare premiums would be as my US company still sends me the sign up forms every year to sign up to their retiree’s plan).

Property taxes are much lower than where we used to live in Texas.

All forms of insurance are much cheaper here, house, car, property. No need for umbrella insurance, no such thing as LTC insurance.

TV, broadband, cellphone are all much cheaper.

Food and grocery shopping is cheaper.

I keep a close track on spending on a spreadsheet, have done for 20+ years and it is just the way it is. Travel has not yet abated, but everything is closer. However, we did spend the month of March in the USA, including a Panama Canal Cruise, plus we have spent 2 weeks in the Scilly Isles, 2 weeks in the south of France, and are currently in London after meeting up with DD in Paris who flew in from LA where we spent a week before taking a train to London. We have also spent time away this year in Cheshire, the Peak District, and Scotland.

We did not move back from the USA to save money, we moved back because of family and friends, the lower cost of living just happens to be a bonus.

 

[tmm99]

What?? The Bahamas is more expensive than Japan

 

[jimbee]

Food and grocery shopping is cheaper..

Alan, this part surprises me. Food is cheaper in the UK than in the US. I wouldn't have thought that.

The other items on your list don't surprise me a bit.

 

[Fermion]

Alan, this part surprises me. Food is cheaper in the UK than in the US. I wouldn't have thought that.

The other items on your list don't surprise me a bit.

It is because they use shorter words, they call ground beef "mince" and thus reduces printing costs for the label.

 

[Alan]

Alan, this part surprises me. Food is cheaper in the UK than in the US. I wouldn't have thought that.

The other items on your list don't surprise me a bit.

We don’t eat fast food or processed food, either here or when we lived in the USA and our food costs are less. For example, a large loaf of whole grain bread baked that morning in our local supermarket costs less than $1.50. I can send you links to US expat forums in the UK and ask the folks there on their experience with shopping.

Fresh fruit and veg either from our local supermarket or twice a week street market is much cheaper.

Here is a price list from one of our local supermarkets and also to Walmart.

e.g. apples cost 26c per Apple here for a bag of 6, 42c per apple from Walmart for a bag of 12.


https://www.walmart.com/browse/health/fruits-vegetables/976760_2915579_3096694

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/fruit-veg

We don’t eat or drink less here than we did in the USA but our grocery bills are down. Gas costs a lot more here but our mileage is down to 5,000 / year because we rarely take the car to do our shopping as everything is easy walking distance.

 

[Rianne]

This part interesting. Of all the U.S. cities I compared to our city (Champaign), overall index of healthcare is higher in Champaign. That includes, San Fran, Chicago, Atlanta. St Louis index very high and beats Champaign.


https://www.numbeo.com/health-care/comparison.jsp

 

[Freedom56]

We know many people in Switzerland that are entering retirement age and can't afford to retire. So I'm not surprised that it's number three on the list. Many are complaining that after 45 years of working they are facing retirement in exile. Some just don't retire and keep working as long as they can. Many are moving to Spain and Portugal. Some are retiring in small villages in Thailand. But others that have passive income from rental properties are doing fine and live comfortably. Many wealthy people are buying up property in Switzerland so they money keeps flowing in. We have become a curiosity for many people over there as they have seen us retire early and always ask how we were able to do it. But then again, we get the same questions from our neighbors who are looking at retirement outside California. Yet in California while the lower income people and those entering retirement are moving out, affluent people keep moving in driving up home prices.

 

[jimbee]

We don’t eat fast food or processed food, either here or when we lived in the USA and our food costs are less. For example, a large loaf of whole grain bread baked that morning in our local supermarket costs less than $1.50. I can send you links to US expat forums in the UK and ask the folks there on their experience with shopping.

Fresh fruit and veg either from our local supermarket or twice a week street market is much cheaper.

Here is a price list from one of our local supermarkets and also to Walmart.

e.g. apples cost 26c per Apple here for a bag of 6, 42c per apple from Walmart for a bag of 12.

https://www.walmart.com/browse/health/fruits-vegetables/976760_2915579_3096694

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/fruit-veg

We don’t eat or drink less here than we did in the USA but our grocery bills are down. Gas costs a lot more here but our mileage is down to 5,000 / year because we rarely take the car to do our shopping as everything is easy walking distance.

Interesting, those prices are a good deal. Thanks for the info.

 

[NW-Bound]

Oh my! Afghanistan is so cheap! That is it, I am retiring there.

Don't stop there. Pakistan is even cheaper than Afghanistan. And perhaps it gets you a bit further away from the Taliban.

 

[Nemo2]

Don't stop there. Pakistan is even cheaper than Afghanistan. And perhaps it gets you a bit further away from the Taliban.

Here ya go....I was in Quetta in 1963, and the population now is around 15 times what it was then.....still cheap though:

 

[Chuckanut]

COL often depends on where in the country one lives. Comparing London to Lone Tree, ND might produce a cheaper COL in the USA. Still the huge difference in the cost of medical care has to be a major factor in how the USA compares to other countries.

 

[Alan]

COL often depends on where in the country one lives. Comparing London to Lone Tree, ND might produce a cheaper COL in the USA. Still the huge difference in the cost of medical care has to be a major factor in how the USA compares to other countries.

For sure, all the figures in the surveys have to be averages as the range within countries is huge. Our daughter has lived in Santa Monica and now LA for the last 6 years, after living in Austin, Texas for the previous 13 years.

Her and her partner’s plans over the next 5 to 10 years is to rack up as much money as they can and retire to Adelaide, which is where he grew up. While they love the weather in Southern California they don’t like the COL which is fine while they are earning gobs of money but not for somewhere they want to retire to.

 

[Cayman]

Hungary is very affordable when compared to many countries.

Italy was considerably less expensive than the U.S. (Spent 2+ months in Italy this summer).

Striking differences in the quality of food available in basic grocery stores throughout Italy --- plentiful, flavorful, organic selection and much, much LOWER cost than here in the US.

 

[kgtest]

imolderu did you see the data that just came out with the headline "Total international debt by country"

Surprising that the US is like 30% of the entire world's debt. But then if you consider how many countries don't even have modern banking, maybe not.