Cost of Living by Country

[Fermion]

That is because the US economy crushes the economy of the rest of the world.

The GDP of just California alone, at about 3 trillion is higher than that of the entire United Kingdom.

If you do debt vs GDP, the USA isn't even in the top 10

But it is a concern. We don't want to get to Japan levels.

 

[gerntz]

We know many people in Switzerland that are entering retirement age and can't afford to retire.

In the few days I've spent there, I was amazed at the high prices. Pizza for two & bottle of local wine = $60. $30-35 in USA.

 

[NW-Bound]

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

"Interesting" place, but it looks crowded.

I just saw a video of "Bald and Bankrupt" in Kalmykia, a Russian Republic. It's not crowded. Russia is shown to have fairly low COL, just a tad above Vietnam, but Russia is a big country. Kalmykia's COL ought to be a bit lower.

 

[Nemo2]

"Interesting" place, but it looks crowded.

Quite the history though:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/09/the-lawless-frontier/305296/

 

[NW-Bound]

I have had the book The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier for a few years, and have not finished it. Too much for me. I am getting old and need serenity. I want to forget about violence for a while. I don't even want to visit crowded Asian cities.

You have traveled quite a bit in your youth. Nowaways, travelers, not plain tourists, who go into less popular places and know how to tell their stories make a good living on Youtube. I would not be able to do that even when I was young.

The world is still a pretty big place. People who think it is small are those who flew from one metropolitan area to another, and what do they know. Forget about traveling on foot or bicycle, as you don't cover that much and life is short. Just go by car, take some country or back roads, and people will appreciate how large the world is.

 

[Fermion]

The world is still a pretty big place. People who think it is small are those who flew from one metropolitan area to another, and what do they know. Forget about traveling on foot or bicycle, as you don't cover that much and life is short. Just go by car, take some country or back roads, and people will appreciate how large the world is.

Indeed. Even just the USA is vast. I don't like to fly so we road trip a decent amount. This recent trip from WA state to Florida took us three weeks at a decent pace.

Imagine if we include Canada in our travels!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

What is nice about the UK, is it is driving distance to a large part of the world as a whole. Not that one would do so to a lot of places.

 

[Go-NoGo]

What is nice about the UK, is it is driving distance to a large part of the world as a whole. Not that one would do so to a lot of places.

You can drive to a "large part of the world" from the UK? How does that work ?

 

[Nemo2]

You can drive to a "large part of the world" from the UK? How does that work ?

Drive your car onto the train in Folkestone, go through the Eurotunnel, get off in Calais?

 

[ShokWaveRider]

You can drive to a "large part of the world" from the UK? How does that work ?

Hmmmmm…. One word "Chunnel" Check the Map. You could drive to Europe, Africa, India, if you had the desire. Not saying you would. One is more likely to want to visit Europe from the UK.

With the USA, North and South America is it. And I am sure more people want to go to Europe that Guatemala.

 

[Rianne]

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.

Houses in Italy selling for $1. They need much remodeling, but who cares?https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/italy-one-euro-home-websites/index.html

 

[martyp]

I've retired in Bangkok, Thailand for the past 3 years. I am from the San Francisco Bay Area which is comparable to New York City. I would say the index is accurate for Thailand.

 

[Koolau]

We've often discussed the concept of regional COL. Comparing apples to apples (literally but more figuratively) is quite difficult.

Housing is very difficult to compare. Even within the USA, you may find a 2800 SF tri-level on a quarter acre for $150K located in the midwest or an 1100 SF condo for $600K in Honolulu. That's my personal experience. The variables are almost infinite.

Low costs for health care may include inexpensive "wellness" but significant waits for "procedures" and tests. So what is the value comparison? If you're basically healthy, you can save a bundle OUS. If you need knee replacement or an MRI, you do the math if you live where health care is "free." As always, YMMV.

 

[dixonge]

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

I agree! Mexico at 108 is very confirming of our choice, but we definitely want to spend more time in South America. Our friend Valentina is Columbian. Still not sure why she is here in Mexico, exactly, but that is two Columbians we know, so we'll have people to visit hopefully.

 

[kcowan]

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.

Here is their 2020 update by city:

Americas