Grocery Basket and Monthly Living-Cost Index 2026
The same items, priced in 85 countries with one method, converted to US dollars
The answer: a seven-item weekly grocery basket (bread, rice, eggs, milk, chicken, bottled water, beer) costs between $6.13 and $40.93 across 85 countries - a 6.7x spread - with a global median of $14.03. A monthly living-cost basket for remote workers (city-centre rent, utilities, internet, gym, 30 coffees, 8 beers, 30 street-food meals) ranges from $288 in Nepal to $3,437 in Switzerland, an 11.9x spread around a median of $1,079.
Key findings
- The weekly grocery basket in the United States is the 5th most expensive in the study ($25.33); China is the 9th cheapest ($8.12) - a 3.1x gap for identical items.
- Single items diverge far more than baskets do: bottled water spans 58x (Venezuela $0.05 to Iceland $2.90), city-centre rent 23x (Pakistan $112.80 to Singapore $2,572.67), bread 22x and a street-food meal 19x.
- Portugal (+42% vs the global median) and Spain (+63%) are now above the world median monthly basket - the cheap-Europe arbitrage has largely been priced in.
- The cheapest European entry in this dataset (Greece, $1,405/month) is roughly 3x the cheapest Asian one (Indonesia, $474/month).
- Subsidised prices are local-only: sub-$0.20 milk and bottled water come from price controls and subsidy programmes, not from a generally cheaper market.
| Country | per week |
|---|---|
| Iran | $6.12 |
| Pakistan | $6.33 |
| India | $6.40 |
| Nepal | $6.78 |
| Nigeria | $7.02 |
| Vietnam | $7.16 |
| Egypt | $7.38 |
| Indonesia | $7.97 |
| Country | per week |
|---|---|
| Iceland | $40.92 |
| Switzerland | $40.30 |
| Norway | $31.24 |
| Israel | $27.61 |
| United States | $25.33 |
| Sweden | $24.50 |
| Ireland | $23.63 |
| France | $23.42 |
| Country | per month |
|---|---|
| Nepal | $288.33 |
| Algeria | $325.47 |
| Bangladesh | $331.35 |
| Pakistan | $338.31 |
| India | $362.19 |
| Egypt | $362.30 |
| Iran | $436.36 |
| Tunisia | $459.76 |
| Indonesia | $474.24 |
| Bolivia | $504.52 |
| Country | per month |
|---|---|
| Switzerland | $3,414.59 |
| Singapore | $3,356.40 |
| Iceland | $3,304.62 |
| Ireland | $2,958.07 |
| United States | $2,716.90 |
| Israel | $2,656.79 |
| Australia | $2,620.08 |
| United Kingdom | $2,605.36 |
| Netherlands | $2,533.60 |
| Qatar | $2,509.09 |
Item-by-item extremes
| Item | Cheapest | USD | Most expensive | USD | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottled Water (330ml) | Venezuela | $0.05 | Iceland | $2.89 | 57.8x |
| Apartment Rent (1BR city center) | Pakistan | $112.80 | Singapore | $2,572.67 | 22.8x |
| Bread (500g) | Algeria | $0.18 | Iceland | $4.05 | 22.5x |
| Street Food (one meal) | Bangladesh | $1.62 | Switzerland | $30.92 | 19.1x |
| Utilities (1 person, monthly) | Iran | $11.06 | Austria | $190.55 | 17.2x |
| Internet Plan (1 month) | India | $7.48 | United Arab Emirates | $91.07 | 12.2x |
| Gym Membership (1 month) | Sri Lanka | $11.89 | Qatar | $129.62 | 10.9x |
| Chicken Breast (1kg) | Thailand | $2.68 | Switzerland | $27.18 | 10.1x |
| Beer (0.5L) | Iran | $0.56 | Oman | $5.17 | 9.2x |
| Eggs (6-pack) | India | $0.47 | Switzerland | $4.23 | 9.0x |
| Milk (250ml UHT) | Tunisia | $0.12 | Jamaica | $0.98 | 8.2x |
| Coffee (cappuccino) | Algeria | $0.83 | Iceland | $6.31 | 7.6x |
| Rice (500g) | Bangladesh | $0.30 | United States | $2.23 | 7.4x |
All figures converted to USD at the 8 Aug 2026 exchange rate held in the imhere price database. Baskets: Bread 500g + rice 500g + eggs (6) + milk 250ml + chicken breast 1kg + bottled water 330ml + beer 0.5L / 1BR city-centre rent + utilities (1 person) + internet + gym + 30 coffees + 8 beers + 30 street-food meals.
| Country | Groceries / week | Living costs / month |
|---|---|---|
| Iceland | $40.92 | $3,305 |
| Switzerland | $40.30 | $3,415 |
| Norway | $31.24 | $2,466 |
| Israel | $27.61 | $2,657 |
| United States | $25.33 | $2,717 |
| Sweden | $24.50 | $1,755 |
| Ireland | $23.63 | $2,958 |
| France | $23.42 | $1,748 |
| Austria | $22.86 | $1,993 |
| Netherlands | $22.71 | $2,534 |
| Australia | $22.39 | $2,620 |
| Canada | $22.29 | $2,031 |
| Belgium | $22.12 | $1,906 |
| Singapore | $21.44 | $3,356 |
| Italy | $20.43 | $1,724 |
| Uruguay | $20.31 | $1,399 |
| Guatemala | $19.87 | $1,001 |
| Costa Rica | $19.61 | $1,336 |
| New Zealand | $19.59 | $1,778 |
| United Kingdom | $19.04 | $2,605 |
| Cuba | $18.93 | $1,101 |
| Germany | $18.89 | $1,774 |
| Croatia | $18.74 | $1,442 |
| Greece | $17.88 | $1,399 |
| Oman | $17.49 | $1,062 |
| Jamaica | $17.15 | $1,455 |
| Taiwan | $16.91 | $832 |
| Lebanon | $16.67 | $1,330 |
| Czech | $16.57 | $1,431 |
| Qatar | $16.55 | $2,509 |
| South Korea | $16.27 | $1,017 |
| United Arab Emirates | $15.72 | $2,421 |
| Senegal | $15.58 | $1,096 |
| Mexico | $15.43 | $1,200 |
| Fiji | $15.09 | $1,079 |
| Bulgaria | $14.91 | $1,090 |
| Bahrain | $14.82 | $1,451 |
| Ethiopia | $14.76 | $970 |
| Panama | $14.69 | $1,451 |
| Spain | $14.47 | $1,749 |
| Hungary | $14.40 | $1,283 |
| Jordan | $14.32 | $796 |
| Venezuela | $14.03 | $725 |
| Saudi Arabia | $13.97 | $1,196 |
| Japan | $13.74 | $1,017 |
| Kuwait | $13.72 | $1,416 |
| Chile | $13.68 | $1,001 |
| Maldives | $13.58 | $1,412 |
| Poland | $13.37 | $1,413 |
| Portugal | $13.19 | $1,525 |
| Argentina | $12.99 | $1,061 |
| Peru | $12.33 | $789 |
| Morocco | $12.25 | $669 |
| Ecuador | $11.84 | $660 |
| Ghana | $11.70 | $659 |
| Malaysia | $11.67 | $797 |
| Colombia | $11.63 | $876 |
| South Africa | $11.60 | $1,170 |
| Dominican Republic | $11.35 | $940 |
| Kenya | $11.04 | $615 |
| Mauritius | $10.53 | $775 |
| Laos | $10.46 | $865 |
| Russia | $10.37 | $1,184 |
| Turkey | $9.87 | $1,018 |
| Bolivia | $9.76 | $505 |
| Madagascar | $9.56 | $521 |
| Brazil | $9.49 | $750 |
| Tunisia | $9.41 | $460 |
| Cambodia | $9.02 | $751 |
| Myanmar | $8.92 | $623 |
| Bangladesh | $8.81 | $331 |
| Thailand | $8.71 | $807 |
| Kazakhstan | $8.70 | $900 |
| Philippines | $8.41 | $593 |
| Sri Lanka | $8.33 | $534 |
| Algeria | $8.32 | $325 |
| China | $8.12 | $589 |
| Indonesia | $7.97 | $474 |
| Egypt | $7.38 | $362 |
| Vietnam | $7.16 | $576 |
| Nigeria | $7.02 | $606 |
| Nepal | $6.78 | $288 |
| India | $6.40 | $362 |
| Pakistan | $6.33 | $338 |
| Iran | $6.12 | $436 |
Method and caveats
What is in the baskets
The grocery basket is seven everyday items: bread 500g, rice 500g, eggs (6), milk 250ml, chicken breast 1kg, bottled water 330ml and beer 0.5L. The monthly basket adds the fixed costs of living somewhere: a one-bedroom city-centre apartment, utilities for one person, a home internet plan, a gym membership, then the eating-out layer of 30 coffees, 8 beers and 30 street-food meals.
How to use this data
Budget by basket rather than by country reputation: 'Thailand is cheap' is less useful than 'the specific things I buy every month cost $813 there'. Check the single item that matters most to you - a country can be cheap on rent and expensive on food, and water, internet, rent and street food each behave independently. Averages are a starting point, not a quote: a specific apartment in a specific neighbourhood can be double the city-centre reference.
Method
Prices are maintained in local currencies in the imhere price database and converted to USD at the exchange rate shown below. Only countries with complete data for every item in a basket are counted, which is why the two baskets have slightly different country counts. Some entries are national averages and others are city-centre references; treat differences under about 10% as noise.
Caveats
This is a planning tool, not an academic index. Basket definitions, package sizes and reference points vary between countries; exchange rates move (so USD figures in this report are tied to one date); and subsidised goods do not reflect the price a long-term resident or an importer would pay. Re-check before you commit to a move or a booking, and verify the specific item and city you care about.