Numbeo: Ukraine among Top Cheapest Countries to Live in Worldwide

Recently, Ukraine was named among the top of the cheapest countries in the world according to Numbeo’s study of The Cost of Living Around the World 2018. Ukrainian cities were positioned among those of India and Egypt for cheap living costs.

Numbeo is a crowd-sourced global database of reported consumer prices, perceived crime rates, quality of health care, and other statistics. It is the world's largest database on cost of living information in various countries (with ratings created based on user information, so they can display the average situation by country with some error). The published rating took into account various factors, for example, the cost of rent and purchase of housing, payment for utilities, travel by public transport, buying food and food in inexpensive restaurants.

According to the results of the study, in Ukraine the average price for renting a one-room apartment near the city center is much higher than the average salary. So, for comparison, on average, Ukrainians receive $262.3, but the rent of flats is $317 dollars (note: the Numbeo index takes the average data for large cities in Ukraine: Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov).

Despite the fact that renting in Ukraine is quite expensive, it is much easier to do this than in Europe, or in the US. For example, if in some countries you need a good credit history, recommendations, a stable income, etc., when in Ukraine, these things are not particularly troublesome and you can rent without even using an agency, just simply choose from an advertisement and agree with the landlord, much as is done in Georgia.

Logically, the most expensive rental housing is found in the capital of Ukraine - in Kiev, where the average monthly cost per flat is around 8 thousand UAH ($305). Cheaper options are also available.

In Lviv, the average rental price is slightly more than 6 thousand UAH ($229), in Kharkov and Dnieper prices similar - somewhere 5.5 - 6 thousand UAH. In Odessa, the specificity of rent is slightly different, here is more expensive housing, which is close to the sea, and not to the center of the city itself - 6,5 thousand UAH ($248).

According to Numbeo, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the cost of living plus rent index was 16.87 and the local purchasing power index was 27.19. In Lviv, it was 17.01 and 26.88, respectively, and in Kiev the cost of living plus rent index was 20.24 and the local purchasing power index was 37.48. The top end of the scale features Bermuda (128.76; 112.26) and various Swiss and Norwegian cities.

See the full ranking here: www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp

By Dimitri Dolaberidze