Kuwait ranked second-lowest cost of living in Gulf, 12th in Arab world

Kuwait was ranked as the second-lowest Gulf country in terms of the overall cost of living, according to the 2025 edition of the “World Cost of Living Index”.
The ranking placed Kuwait in 12th place in the Arab world and 80th globally out of 139 countries included in the survey, indicating a relatively lower cost of living in Kuwait.
This annual index evaluates the cost of living in each country based on five global standard criteria, comparing them to the cost of living in New York City, USA. These criteria include: average rental prices (both residential and commercial), average cost of living with rental costs, average grocery prices, average restaurant prices, and the average purchasing power of the local currency based on average net salary.
This annual index evaluates the cost of living in each country based on five global standard criteria, comparing them to the cost of living in New York City, USA. These criteria include: average rental prices (both residential and commercial), average cost of living with rental costs, average grocery prices, average restaurant prices, and the average purchasing power of the local currency based on average net salary.
According to the index rankings, Kuwait received 40.4 points in the overall assessment. This means that the overall cost of living in Kuwait is only 40.4 percent of the cost of living in New York City, which serves as the global reference scale with 100 points.
In terms of the five standard evaluation criteria, Kuwait scored the following percentages compared to the cost of living rates in New York City:
- 21.9% of average rent prices
- 32.2% of the cost of living with rent costs
- 33.7% of grocery prices
- 40.8% of average restaurant prices
- 1.74% of the purchasing power of the local currency
This means that the purchasing power of the Kuwaiti dinar is 1.74 times greater than the purchasing power of the US dollar in New York.
Hence, Kuwait ranked second in the Gulf in terms of the average cost of living, following the Sultanate of Oman, and was followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and the Emirates, respectively. In the Arab world, Kuwait ranked 12th.
The ten countries with the lowest cost of living in the world, according to the index, are ranked as follows: Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, India, Afghanistan, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Russia, and Paraguay.
The ten countries with the highest cost of living in the world, according to the index, are: Switzerland, the US Virgin Islands, Iceland, the Bahamas, Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Barbados, Norway, Papua New Guinea, and Denmark.
Source: Al Rai