Three Pakistani Cities Ranked Among World’s Cheapest
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
According to the 2025 Numbeo Cost of Living Index, despite rising inflation and utility costs, Pakistan remains home to some of the world’s most affordable cities.
The index ranked Lahore and Karachi as the third and fourth cheapest cities globally, while Islamabad ranked 314th out of 327 cities surveyed. The rankings were based on living expenses compared to New York City, factoring in rent, groceries, restaurant prices, and purchasing power.
The report found that Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva in Switzerland topped the list as the most expensive cities. New York followed in fourth place, with Basel and Bern securing the fifth and sixth spots. Other high-cost cities included San Francisco, Honolulu, Reykjavik, and Boston.
On the opposite end, Coimbatore, India, was named the world’s cheapest city, followed by Alexandria, Egypt. The index revealed that living in Lahore and Karachi is 85% cheaper than in Zurich, while Islamabad is 83% less expensive.
The rankings highlight the affordability of life in Pakistan compared to many global cities, despite ongoing economic challenges and rising household expenses.
Reference Link:- https://propakistani.pk/2025/02/20/three-pakistani-cities-ranked-among-worlds-cheapest/
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
