Kuwait is one of the most affordable Gulf countries, as per the Numbeo website, one of the largest databases on the cost of living in the world. Kuwait has been ranked as the cheapest Gulf country in the ‘cost of living’ index for the first half of this year, and is ranked 9th cheapest in the Arab world.
The ‘cost of living’ index is published by Numbeo biannually, and is a relative index measuring the prices of consumer goods across 137 countries across the world, which include cost of groceries, transportation, restaurants, and utilities. But it does not include accommodation expenses like rent or mortgage.
Lebanon has been ranked as most expensive among Arab countries, and is ranked 18th most expensive globally, followed by Qatar in second place (30th globally), UAE (35th globally), Bahrain (40th globally), Saudi Arabia (44th globally), Palestine (45th globally), Oman (50th globally), Jordan (52nd globally), and Kuwait (56th globally). Other countries like Algeria, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and Egypt were among the cheapest Arab countries to live.
However, Kuwait is the third highest in Gulf and Arab countries when it comes to rental increases, preceded by Qatar and the UAE. Kuwait was also higher in this category than several other European countries including France, Sweden Germany, Italy, Finland and even China.
As for purchasing power index, Kuwait is fourth among Arab countries after the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
