What Are The Cheapest Cities To Live In The World?

Between rent, utilities, food, cell phone plans, internet and everything else people need to make it through daily life, the cost of living can be exceptionally high in some major cities. Put more succinctly, it costs a lot to be alive in 2018.

When a city becomes more desirable, more people move there. When too many people want to live in a city, it becomes more expensive. But what about cities on the other side of the cost-of-living spectrum? Where should people who like to live on the frugal side think about going?

The Economist's data team compiled statistics from major cities around the world in 2017 to generate a cost-of-living index for each one. In all, 133 cities were included in the test. The Economist compared the prices of 150 common items in those cities and studied how the prices compared to the same items in New York City. The Big Apple acted as the benchmark, with prices of goods compiled from September 2017.

This list, made using that data, showcases the 50 cheapest major cities in the world according to The Economist's cost-of-living index. This is not a list of the 50 absolute cheapest places to live in the world, as a rural town in Nebraska might technically have a lower cost of living than most major cities. But these are the bottom 50 cities according to The Economist's data, which studied nations' capitals and other heavily populated commercial hubs.

A large majority of the cities listed are in eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, with a handful in South and Central America. Saudi Arabia and India each have three, while Australia has none. There is only one from North America.

It should be noted that this data does not seem to factor in quality of life, ease of immigration or other things of that nature. At least one city on this list has seen active warfare in recent months. It is merely a study of the cost of goods compared to New York City.