Prices of commodities differ across the globe and in this article, Insider Monkey focuses on the places where the prices are the highest by offering you an overview of 25 most expensive countries in the world in 2017.
Every time I travel abroad, I become more aware of the disparity in the prices of commodities around the world, be it accommodation, food, clothes or souvenirs. Since I come from a developing country, most of the EU countries I have visited so far were rather expensive in my point of view – one of a citizen coming from a country in transition where the economy is shattered, to put it mildly. Perhaps the most expensive country I traveled to was Netherlands, which I visited a couple of years back. It was a luxury on which I spent most of my one-year savings. Most of the basic things which I needed during my five days stay were three or four times more expensive than in my country. On the 2nd day of my stay, I decided to stop analyzing the prices of every single item I would see in a window shop and comparing them to those in my hometown. Some worlds are just not built to be compared. It is then that I started enjoying Amsterdam to the fullest.
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For those who live to travel, like me, we have already published an article on 20 Most Expensive Countries in the World to Visit which you might find both, interesting and useful. Norway was at the top of our list as the most expensive country in the world to visit. Alongside Oslo, Copenhagen, New York, Stockholm, and Zurich are some of the most expensive cities in the world to visit. If you happen to be traveling to any of these destinations, make sure you have a fat bank account. Otherwise, read a book on extreme budget traveling. We have also dedicated one article to writing about most expensive countries in South America, which might be useful in case you are planning to set off on an adventure in Latin countries. Travelling through these countries would not be as costly as traveling through Scandinavia, for example. Prices are even lower in Nepal which is considered to be the most cheapest country in the world.
According to Mercer Cost of Living, Hong Kong, Luanda, Singapore, Tokyo, and Zurich are the most expensive cities to live in 2017. Luanda, the capital of Angola, has the title of the most expensive city in the world to live in, to my great surprise. Other cities which are ranked high on the list of the most expensive cities in 2017 are Beijing, Bern, Geneva, Shanghai, and New York City. If you plan on buying a property abroad, you should note that some of the cities which are placed at the top of the list of the most expensive cities to buy a house are Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Monaco, and Singapore. The most expensive city in the world in 2017 to buy a house is Monaco, where you could buy 15 square meters of property for an enormous $1 million. I can only dream of being able to afford to buy a property at that price. Truth be told, even if it were half as cheap, I still would not be able to afford it.
When creating the list of 25 most expensive countries in the world in 2017, I used several sources of data, all of which have to do with costs of living. The data are provided by the Expatistan and Movehub. Furthermore, I referred to the data provided by Numbeo, which is survey based. I have also taken into account the ranking of cities based on the cost of living, provided by Mercer. The capital is usually where the prices are higher compared to the rest of the country, which is why I believe, looking at the respective rankings of the countries and their capitals allow for an interesting analysis.
