Cost of Living in Countries Comparison
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Cost of living in different countries
9 minute readTaking into account the cost of living is inescapable for the overwhelming majority of people in the world. Individuals need to have an idea of the amount of money required to maintain a reasonable standard of living and pay for basic expenses such as accommodation, transportation, and food, and this amount varies from country to country. Use our cost of living countries comparison to find out how the United Kingdom compares with the United States, Canada, France, Spain, and Germany.
How much does accommodation cost in different countries?
Whether you rent or purchase a property, those monthly payments are an important factor in living costs. As shown by the cost of living countries comparison table for accommodation below, Spain generally has lower rental and property prices than the UK, US, Canada, France, and Germany, while property prices in the US and Canada are often higher than in the UK and the continental European countries listed.
All figures are taken from Numbeo on 22 February 2023.
| UK | US | Canada | France | Spain | Germany | |
| Monthly rent for 1 bedroom apartment (city centre) | £901.96 | £1,408.77 ($1,705.51) | £1,000.42 (C$1,640.33) | £641.67 (€728.88) | £652.49 (€741.17) | £744.24 (€845.38) |
| Monthly rent for 1 bedroom apartment (outside centre) | £690.63 | £1,135.57 ($1,374.76) | £847.88 (C$1,390.21) | £518.63 (€589.11) | £532.28 (€604.62) | £554.40 (€629.75) |
| Monthly rent for 3 bedroom apartment (city centre) | £1,600.22 | £2,374.94 ($2,842.49) | £1,599.21 (C$2,622.12) | £1,285.18 (€1,459.83) | £1,109.82 (€1,260.64) | £1,380.02 (€1,567.56) |
| Monthly rent for 3 bedroom apartment (outside centre) | £1,204.19 | £1,853.41 ($2,243.80) | £1,394.68 (C$2,286.75) | £993.26 (€1,128.25) | £817.87 (€929.02) | £1,039.24 (€1,180.47) |
| Price per square meter to buy apartment (city centre) | £4,363.87 | £3,705.55 ($4,486.07) | £5,402.26 (C$8,857.70) | £5,111.50 (€5,806.16) | £2,821.40 (€3,204.83) | £5,907.40 (€6,710.23) |
| Price per square meter to buy apartment (outside centre) | £3,236.82 | £2,498.05 ($3,024.22) | £4,020.51 (C$6,592.15) | £3,886.83 (€4,415.06) | £1,730.92 (€1,966.15) | £4,245.21 (€4,822.14) |
How much does transport cost in different cities?
Our cost of living countries comparison also shows that the price of public transport, petrol, and new vehicles varies from country to country. Canada, France, and Spain offer well-priced public transport, with the UK being the most expensive. The cheapest petrol and new vehicles are in the US and Canada, while the most expensive petrol in this comparison is in France and Germany. New vehicle prices in the UK are not much different from those in France and Germany.
| UK | US | Canada | France | Spain | Germany | |
| Single bus ticket | £2.50 | £2.07 ($2.50) | £1.98 (C$3.25) | £1.50 (€1.70) | £1.28 (€1.45) | £2.55 (€2.90) |
| Monthly public transport ticket | £65.22 | £57.82 ($70.00) | £60.99 (C$100.00) | £58.46 (€66.40) | £35.21 (€40.00) | £61.63 (€70.00) |
| Petrol (1 litre) | £1.56 | £0.82 ($1.00) | £1.11 (C$1.82) | £1.68 (€1.91) | £1.46 (€1.66) | £1.77 (€2.01) |
| Volkswagen Golf | £22,000.00 | £20,650.33 ($25,000.00) | £17,381.98 (C$28,500.00) | £21,647.99 (€24,590.00) | £20,248.22 (€23,000.00) | £22,008.94 (€25,000.00) |
| Toyota Corolla | £22,263.48 | £19,192.48 ($23,235.08) | £15,796.26 (C$25,900.00) | £22,234.16 (€25,255.84) | £20,450.75 (€23,230.05) | £22,453.19 (€25,504.63) |
What is the cost of living in different countries?
As can be seen in the cost of living countries comparison below, the cost of basic food items, groceries, and various goods and services in the UK is relatively high. However, the cost of living in the UK remains lower than the cost of living in the US, Canada, France, and Germany, even if slightly so.
The cost of living in Spain is the lowest among the countries compared. Including rent, consumer prices in the US are 29.2% higher than in the UK, while Canada’s consumer prices are 8.8% higher than the UK. French consumer prices are 0.8% higher than the UK, although when rent is excluded, they are 11.1% higher than the UK. Consumer prices with rent included are 21.5% higher than the UK, while German consumer prices excluding rent are 2.6% higher, and including rent are 3.1% lower, than the UK.
| UK | US | Canada | France | Spain | Germany | |
| Milk (1 litre) | £1.00 | £0.84 ($1.02) | £1.65 (C$2.70) | £0.91 (€1.03) | £0.76 (€0.86) | £0.91 (€1.04) |
| Bread (500g loaf) | £1.03 | £2.70 ($3.26) | £1.93 (C$3.16) | £1.36 (€1.54) | £0.94 (€1.07) | £1.56 (€1.77) |
| Eggs (12pk) | £2.09 | £3.34 ($4.04) | £2.51 (C$4.11) | £2.77 (€3.15) | £1.93 (€2.19) | £2.39 (€2.72) |
| Water (1.5 litre bottle) | £0.99 | £1.59 ($1.93) | £1.39 (C$2.28) | £0.62 (€0.71) | £0.57 (€0.65) | £0.50 (€0.57) |
| Chicken Breast (1kg) | £5.70 | £9.83 ($11.90) | £8.86 (C$14.52) | £9.54 (€10.83) | £5.79 (€6.57) | £7.10 (€8.07) |
| Cappuccino (regular, in a restaurant) | £2.94 | £3.83 ($4.66) | £2.87 (C$4.70) | £2.56 (€2.91) | £1.53 (€1.74) | £2.70 (€3.06) |
| Beer (500ml, in a restaurant or pub) | £4.00 | £4.13 ($5.00) | £4.27 (C$7.00) | £5.28 (€6.00) | £2.20 (€2.50) | £3.52 (€4.00) |
| Cinema ticket | £10.00 | £9.91 ($12.00) | £9.15 (C$15.00) | £9.68 (€11.00) | £7.04 (€8.00) | £10.56 (€12.00) |
| Gym membership (monthly) | £31.17 | £34.69 ($42.00) | £33.36 (C$54.69) | £28.98 (€32.92) | £33.96 (€38.57) | £28.68 (€32.57) |
| Preschool/ Kindergarten (monthly) | £1,037.63 | £963.01 ($1,165.85) | £666.21 (C$1,092.34) | £535.41 (€608.18) | £320.33 (€363.86) | £304.74 (€346.16) |
| Primary School (yearly) | £13,616.18 | £13,715.90 ($16,604.95) | £10,933.54 (C$17,926.96) | £8,696.65 (€9,878.55) | £6,563.70 (€7,455.72) | £10,570.13 (€12,006.63) |
Top 10 countries with the highest cost of living
The countries used in the cost of living countries comparison are not the top 10 countries with the highest cost of living. According to Numbeo, those 10 states include:
- Bermuda
- Switzerland
- Cayman Islands
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Norway
- Singapore
- Iceland
- Jersey
- Denmark
Top 10 countries with the lowest cost of living
Of all countries analysed by Numbeo, Pakistan has the world’s lowest cost of living. The 10 countries with the lowest cost of living include:
- Pakistan
- Egypt
- India
- Colombia
- Libya
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
- Ukraine
- Kyrgyzstan
- Syria
The challenges of country-to-country comparisons
Cost of living countries comparisons are not an easy task, as you need to consider several issues and variables such as GDP and GNI. One of the important issues is finding similar items in each country for comparison.
For example, we mention eggs in the cost of living table above. However, eggs are available in different sizes, can be free-range and organic or come from battery chickens, and can be vitamin- or Omega-3-enhanced. Shoes (not included in the table) can be a basic pair of cheap sneakers in one country, and a top brand’s latest offering in another. All these factors influence price, which can make it more difficult to compare different country’s cost of living data.
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