List of cheapest cities

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Different groups publish lists of the world's cheapest cities. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) compares prices of more than 160 goods and services in each city and uses New York as the base index of 100. In 2020, the EIU's ranking changed only slightly from 2019. One city from Pakistan and three major Indian cities are in the top ten cheapest in 2020. The reasons are low wages, income inequality, and strong market competition that keeps household spending down.

Another study, TripIndex by TripAdvisor (last updated in 2016), found that five of the ten cheapest cities were in Asia, with four in ASEAN or South Asia. The study calculated costs for a one-night stay at a four-star hotel, cocktails, a two-course dinner with wine, and two taxi trips of about 3.2 km each. The cheapest cities on the list include Hanoi ($141.12), Beijing ($159.05), Bangkok ($161.90), Kuala Lumpur ($194.43), and Jakarta ($204.59). Jakarta was ranked eighth.