Cost-of-living rankings · Eurostat HICP 2023

Most Expensive Countries to Live In

The priciest countries by overall price level, EU-27 average = 100.

By ·Eurostat source →

#1 Most expensive
Switzerland
Average index
100
Top–bottom spread
120
Countries ranked
31

Top 10 — Most expensive

Most Expensive Countries to Live In (top 10)

1. 🇨🇭 Switzerland1752. 🇮🇸 Iceland1533. 🇮🇪 Ireland1424. 🇩🇰 Denmark1425. 🇳🇴 Norway1406. 🇱🇺 Luxembourg1357. 🇫🇮 Finland1228. 🇦🇹 Austria1169. 🇸🇪 Sweden11510. 🇳🇱 Netherlands113

Each value is the price level relative to the EU-27 average of 100. Above 100 is pricier than the EU norm.

Full ranking — all 31 countries

Rank Country Cost index
1 🇨🇭 Switzerland 175
2 🇮🇸 Iceland 153
3 🇮🇪 Ireland 142
4 🇩🇰 Denmark 142
5 🇳🇴 Norway 140
6 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 135
7 🇫🇮 Finland 122
8 🇦🇹 Austria 116
9 🇸🇪 Sweden 115
10 🇳🇱 Netherlands 113
11 🇧🇪 Belgium 112
12 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 109
13 🇫🇷 France 108
14 🇩🇪 Germany 105
15 🇮🇹 Italy 96
16 🇪🇸 Spain 91
17 🇵🇹 Portugal 88
18 🇲🇹 Malta 88
19 🇪🇪 Estonia 88
20 🇨🇾 Cyprus 88
21 🇸🇮 Slovenia 86
22 🇬🇷 Greece 78
23 🇨🇿 Czechia 78
24 🇱🇻 Latvia 76
25 🇭🇷 Croatia 75
26 🇱🇹 Lithuania 74
27 🇸🇰 Slovakia 70
28 🇭🇺 Hungary 65
29 🇵🇱 Poland 60
30 🇷🇴 Romania 58
31 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 55

How to read this ranking

Each figure is a comparative price level: what a standardised basket of goods and services costs locally, with the EU-27 average normalised to 100. Because it is purchasing-power-comparable, it strips out exchange-rate distortion and lets you compare countries directly. The spread from Switzerland (175) to Bulgaria (55) is 120 index points — a large real difference in everyday costs. For affordability, weigh this against the best-value ranking, which combines income and cost.

The mid-table country, Spain (91), is a useful reference: countries above it score higher than typical, those below lower. A country can rank well on one category and poorly on another — cheap groceries do not guarantee cheap rent. Open any country profile for the full per-category breakdown.

Other rankings

Cheapest overall →Best value →Cheapest rent →Cheapest groceries →Cheapest transport →Cheapest healthcare →

Source: Eurostat — comparative price levels (HICP) and median equivalised net income Eurostat — comparative price levels (HICP) and median equivalised net income Price-level indices, EU-27 = 100, 2023.

Read our methodology — how these indices are sourced and computed.