KUWAIT CITY, Jan 19: Kuwait has been ranked as the second least expensive Gulf country in terms of overall cost of living, according to the 2025 edition of the "World Cost of Living Index." In this ranking, Kuwait placed 12th in the Arab world and 80th globally out of 139 countries.

The index, published annually, evaluates the cost of living in each country using five standard criteria, comparing them to the cost of living in New York City, USA. The five criteria include average rental prices (both residential and commercial), the overall cost of living including rent, grocery prices, restaurant prices, and the purchasing power of the local currency based on the average net salary.

The report shows that Kuwait scored 40.4 points in the overall assessment. This means that the cost of living in Kuwait is 40.4% of the cost of living in New York City, which is used as the reference point with a score of 100 points.

For the five criteria, Kuwait's rankings compared to New York City were as follows: 21.9% of average rental prices, 32.2% for the overall cost of living including rent, 33.7% for grocery prices, 40.8% for restaurant prices, and 174% for the purchasing power of the local currency. This indicates that the purchasing power of the Kuwaiti dinar is 1.74 times that of the US dollar in New York.

In the Gulf region, Kuwait ranked second for the lowest cost of living, following Oman. It was then followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE. In the Arab world, Kuwait secured the 12th position.

Globally, the countries with the lowest cost of living according to the index include Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, India, Afghanistan, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Russia, and Paraguay.

On the other hand, the ten countries with the highest cost of living are: Switzerland, the US Virgin Islands, Iceland, the Bahamas, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Barbados, Norway, Papua New Guinea, and Denmark.