ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Sunday said that Pakistan has been ranked cheapest country to live in by the World Population Review in its annual report about the “cost of living for countries in 2021”.
In a series of tweets, he said the report showed that the country’s cost of living was 18.58 with 225.19 million population, followed by Afghanistan and India where the cost of living was 24.51 and 25.14 with population of 39.835 million and 1.39 billion, respectively.
The minister said the cost of living in Uzbekistan was 30.25, 30.69 in Nepal, 31.75 in Nigeria, 38.72 in Vietnam, 39.46 in Malaysia and 42.64 in Brazil.
He said the most expensive countries to live in were Cayman Islands and Bermuda where the cost of living was 141.64 and 138.22, respectively. The cost of living in Switzerland was 122.67, while Norway had 104.49, he said.
Farrukh said the metrics used by the international organization to determine cost of living in each country included rent index, purchasing power, consumer price and grocery indices.
Pakistan has been ranked the most economical country to live in with a cost of living index 18.58 while Afghanistan 24.51; India 25.14; and Syria 25.31 trail respectively.
As per the report on the cost of living index compiled by GoBankingRates Company, Pakistan is termed the cheapest country to live in.
Several organisations in the past and at present as well, have used indicators and a bunch of statistics to ascertain the countries based on their affordability for those living and earning there.
One of these companies is GoBankingRates and the company uses four metrics to determine which countries are the most affordable.
The indicators used in the study include inflationary matrices including, rent index, local purchasing power index, consumer price index, groceries index and the information compiled, compared to the cost of living in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world.
On the contrary, Cayman Islands with 141.64, Bermuda with 138.22, Switzerland with 122.67, and Norway with 104.49, are said to be the most expensive countries globally. All four of these countries have costs of living higher than New York City.
Beijing’s infrastructure development index ranks Pakistan top in South Asia
The cost of living gauges its index with the money for sustenance with a certain level of comfort in a region and covers basics such as housing, groceries, taxes, and healthcare. Some countries have a very high cost of living, particularly in the areas surrounding large cities, as in the United States, cities such as New York and San Francisco have a very high cost of living.