The Overseas Cost of Living Index 2020

What will your lifestyle overseas cost you? Property Guides has crunched the numbers for 12 countries; find out where your favourite country ranks in the Overseas Cost of Living Index for 2020.

As Louisa Durrell says at the start of The Durrells, “We live here now, we can’t spend like tourists…”. The Overseas Cost of Living Index is for those of us buying a property abroad or moving full time.

It focuses on those expenses that home-owners face when they first arrive, from the cost of the same bookcase at your local IKEA (you’ll be surprised at the variation…) to a pot of decent paint. And when you want to relax, we went out to the local bars and restaurants to see how those prices compared too. For when you’re at home, what will you pay for a paperback novel, your Spotify download?

The index includes a few services too, such as the cost of getting a local cleaner in. You may want to travel too, so what will a similar train journey take in our 12 different countries?

Our team of writers overseas have researched 55 sample products in their local supermarkets and shopping malls, online products and services too.

For UK groceries we chose a large Tesco supermarket in England. Although most of us love the idea of browsing the local markets and sampling fresh produce from local farmers, on the whole we have chosen supermarket prices where they are cheaper. Where there is an everyday item that is always on special offer, we have given the offer price.

To understand how to keep control of your currency exchanges when moving abroad, read The Currency Guide to Emigration, free to download.

When you move abroad there are some flavours from home that you may not want to do without, so we’ve included a few of those too, even though there will be local equivalents.

Would you be better off living abroad?

So do dip in and see what you’ll be paying. We know we’ll get some arguments about prices, but if you think you pay a bit less, do let us know!

Need to raise a little more money to buy abroad? Read how to do that safely with your free guide, How to Pay for an Overseas Property.

All prices below are in pounds sterling, with conversions at the interbank rate averaged across 2019. That was: €1.14, US$ 1.27, CAD 1.69, NZD 1.94, AUD 1.84.

To get a more realistic and up to date currency quote, contact Smart Currency Exchange. 

For an up-to-date currency quote, contact Smart Currency Exchange.