Top 10 most and least expensive cities to live 2025: With the cost of living increasing in large urban centers and significant price pressure in these centers, Numbeo recently released its Cost of Living Plus Rent Index 2025 of the top and the least expensive cities to live in worldwide.
According to the 2025 index, the most expensive hubs in the world are located in American and European cities, namely the United States and Switzerland, which take the first 10 positions in the Global Top 10.
The city is the most costly city in the world to stay, and this is mainly because of the high demand and low supply of houses, which increases the prices.
Next comes Zurich, with its high cost of housing, which also plays a major role in ranking it, and the stable economy and quality of life in Switzerland.
We see that other U.S. cities, such as San Francisco, Boston and San Jose, are highly ranked as well, and Swiss cities such as Geneva and Basel are also among the top five.
Singapore is the Asian city to feature in the world list of top 10 cities with high cost of living, appearing at position 8.
The economy of the world has been affected by a few main aspects over the past few years. These are still affecting the cost of living in big cities in 2024.
The pay and savings of internationally mobile employees (or those working on an international assignment) are being directly impacted by inflation and exchange-rate changes.
Increased economic and geopolitical volatility, local conflicts and emergencies have caused additional costs in housing, utilities, local taxes and education.
When it comes to the higher-ranking cities (Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich), the high cost of living is due to high costs of living in general, including high housing, transportation and cost of goods and services.
It is, on the other hand, the currency depreciations that have in some measure led to the demonstrably lower standards of living of international assignees in Islamabad, Lagos and Abuja.
The world’s top 10 most expensive cities to live in 2025:
| Rank | City | Country | Cost of Living + Rent Index | Local Purchasing Power Index |
| 1 | New York, NY | United States | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| 2 | Zurich | Switzerland | 93.2 | 167.3 |
| 3 | Geneva | Switzerland | 90.6 | 171.0 |
| 4 | San Francisco, CA | United States | 85.3 | 171.9 |
| 5 | Basel | Switzerland | 83.9 | 194.8 |
| 6 | Lausanne | Switzerland | 83.4 | 180.4 |
| 7 | Boston, MA | United States | 81.2 | 143.9 |
| 8 | Singapore | Singapore | 80.9 | 103.0 |
| 9 | San Jose, CA | United States | 80.4 | 141.3 |
| 10 | Lugano | Switzerland | 79.1 | 159.7 |
Source: Numbeo Cost of Living Plus Rent Index 2025
Note: These figures were derived from the “Cost of Living Plus Rent Index”, with the data as of mid-year 2025.
The ten cheapest cities to live in in 2025 in the world
By mid 2025, some cities in India and Pakistan are the cheapest places to live.
The cheapest city in the world is Coimbatore, India, followed by Lucknow and Indore and Jaipur at the bottom of the list in the tier 3 category.
On top of that, the costs of living and rental prices are also low in Pakistani cities such as Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi.
Alexandria is the only Egyptian city ranked in the Global Top 10 which has the lowest purchasing power parity among cities.
| Rank | City | Country | Cost of Living + Rent Index | Local Purchasing Power Index |
| 1 | Coimbatore | India | 11.3 | 70.9 |
| 2 | Lucknow | India | 11.8 | 75.2 |
| 3 | Indore | India | 11.9 | 81.4 |
| 4 | Lahore | Pakistan | 11.9 | 29.7 |
| 5 | Rawalpindi | Pakistan | 12.1 | 28.8 |
| 6 | Jaipur | India | 12.3 | 97.0 |
| 7 | Bhubaneswar | India | 12.3 | 80.3 |
| 8 | Vadodara | India | 12.3 | 94.5 |
| 9 | Karachi | Pakistan | 12.3 | 31.0 |
| 10 | Alexandria | Egypt | 12.4 | 17.8 |
Source: Numbeo Cost of Living Plus Rent Index 2025
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