Switzerland Is Still The Most Expensive Place In The World To Eat Out
The $20 that buys one inexpensive restaurant meal in the U.S. buys about three in Japan, nine in India, and 12 in Bangladesh.
In eight European countries, led by Switzerland, it would not cover even one.
All 98 prices come from https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/prices_by_country.jsp?itemId=1&displayCurrency=USD, accessed on August 24, 2026.
Numbeo’s prices are crowdsourced from users reporting what they paid locally and converted to U.S. dollars at market exchange rates. The prices represent a meal at an inexpensive restaurant by local convention, so the ranking compares the lower-cost end of each country’s restaurant market rather than one identical dish priced 98 times.
The roster moves between pulls: Israel, Luxembourg, and Russia carried no data on the access date and are absent here, though they appear in other pulls of the same dataset.
Switzerland Is the Most Expensive
At $31.20, Switzerland is a clear outlier, costing nearly a third more than second-place Norway at $23.60.
The table, https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-and-least-expensive-countries-to-eat-out/ ranks all 98 countries and territories from most to least expensive, including the 38 the graphic leaves out.
Rank
Country
Meal at an Inexpensive Restaurant (USD)
Region
1
🇨🇭 Switzerland
$31.20
Europe
2
🇳🇴 Norway
$23.60
Europe
3
🇩🇰 Denmark
$23.43
Europe
4
🇧🇪 Belgium
$23.36
Europe
5
🇳🇱 Netherlands
$23.36
Europe
6
🇮🇪 Ireland
$23.35
Europe
7
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
$21.82
Europe
8
🇮🇹 Italy
$20.19
Europe
9
🇺🇸 United States
$20.00
N. America
10
🇦🇹 Austria
$18.68
Europe
11
🇨🇦 Canada
$18.11
N. America
12
🇦🇺 Australia
$17.91
Oceania
13
🇬🇷 Greece
$17.52
Europe
14
🇫🇮 Finland
$17.52
Europe
15
🇩🇪 Germany
$17.52
Europe
16
🇪🇸 Spain
$17.52
Europe
17
🇪🇪 Estonia
$17.52
Europe
18
🇨🇾 Cyprus
$17.52
Europe
19
🇲🇹 Malta
$17.52
Europe
20
🇫🇷 France
$17.52
Europe
21
🇺🇾 Uruguay
$16.17
S. America
22
🇸🇪 Sweden
$15.30
Europe
23
🇳🇿 New Zealand
$14.93
Oceania
24
🇦🇷 Argentina
$14.34
S. America
25
🇱🇹 Lithuania
$14.01
Europe
26
🇵🇹 Portugal
$14.01
Europe
27
🇱🇻 Latvia
$14.01
Europe
28
🇸🇮 Slovenia
$14.01
Europe
29
🇭🇷 Croatia
$14.01
Europe
30
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
$13.50
N. America
31
🇭🇺 Hungary
$12.88
Europe
32
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
$11.94
Europe
33
🇲🇽 Mexico
$11.83
N. America
34
🇸🇬 Singapore
$11.82
Asia
35
🇲🇪 Montenegro
$11.68
Europe
36
🇿🇦 South Africa
$11.24
Africa
37
🇷🇴 Romania
$11.11
Europe
38
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
$10.98
N. America
39
🇦🇲 Armenia
$10.98
Asia
40
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
$10.85
Asia
41
🇵🇱 Poland
$10.83
Europe
42
🇬🇪 Georgia
$10.56
Europe
43
🇦🇱 Albania
$10.10
Europe
44
🇧🇾 Belarus
$10.02
Europe
45
🇻🇪 Venezuela
$10.00
S. America
46
🇷🇸 Serbia
$9.96
Europe
47
🇲🇩 Moldova
$9.88
Europe
48
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
$9.69
Europe
49
🇹🇷 Turkey
$9.36
Middle East
50
🇸🇰 Slovakia
$9.34
Europe
51
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
$9.26
Middle East
52
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
$8.82
Asia
53
🇨🇱 Chile
$8.71
S. America
54
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
$8.52
N. America
55
🇺🇦 Ukraine
$8.38
Europe
56
🇭🇰 Hong Kong (China)
$8.29
Asia
57
🇶🇦 Qatar
$8.24
Middle East
58
🇨🇴 Colombia
$8.12
S. America
59
🇵🇦 Panama
$8.06
N. America
60
🇧🇦 Bosnia And Herzegovina
$7.77
Europe
61
🇰🇼 Kuwait
$7.70
Middle East
62
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
$7.60
Europe
63
🇰🇷 South Korea
$7.21
Asia
64
🇧🇭 Bahrain
$7.02
Middle East
65
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
$6.65
Middle East
66
🇲🇺 Mauritius
$6.44
Africa
67
🇧🇷 Brazil
$6.42
S. America
68
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
$6.33
Africa
69
🇯🇵 Japan
$6.29
Asia
70
🇨🇺 Cuba
$6.00
N. America
71
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
$5.90
Asia
72
🇽🇰 Kosovo
$5.84
Europe
73
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
$5.72
Asia
74
🇯🇴 Jordan
$5.64
Middle East
75
🇴🇲 Oman
$5.20
Middle East
76
🇹🇼 Taiwan
$4.71
Asia
77
🇮🇶 Iraq
$4.58
Middle East
78
🇲🇦 Morocco
$4.33
Africa
79
🇹🇳 Tunisia
$4.13
Africa
80
🇵🇭 Philippines
$4.05
Asia
81
🇪🇬 Egypt
$3.93
Africa
82
🇰🇪 Kenya
$3.86
Africa
83
🇲🇾 Malaysia
$3.71
Asia
84
🇵🇪 Peru
$3.58
S. America
85
🇪🇨 Ecuador
$3.50
S. America
86
🇮🇷 Iran
$3.27
Middle East
87
🇹🇭 Thailand
$3.06
Asia
88
🇨🇳 China
$2.98
Asia
89
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
$2.88
Asia
90
🇩🇿 Algeria
$2.72
Africa
91
🇵🇰 Pakistan
$2.16
Asia
92
🇮🇳 India
$2.09
Asia
93
🇳🇵 Nepal
$1.96
Asia
94
🇻🇳 Vietnam
$1.91
Asia
95
🇳🇬 Nigeria
$1.85
Africa
96
🇧🇴 Bolivia
$1.73
S. America
97
🇮🇩 Indonesia
$1.70
Asia
98
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
$1.63
Asia
The 38 countries omitted from the graphic, priced between $12.88 and $6.33, are mostly in Eastern Europe and Latin America. The global median of $9.35 falls between Turkey and Slovakia.
Several wealthy economies also fall in this middle range, including Singapore at $11.82, Hong Kong at $8.29, and South Korea at $7.21. Every Gulf state does as well, from the UAE at $9.26 to Saudi Arabia at $6.65.
Europe Dominates the Most Expensive Countries
Seventeen of the 20 most expensive countries are European; the exceptions are the United States, Canada, and Australia. Behind Switzerland, the Nordic and Benelux countries bunch tightly: Norway at $23.60, Denmark at $23.43, Belgium and the Netherlands at $23.36, and Ireland at $23.35 span just 25 cents.
Currency conversion helps explain two visible clusters. Eight countries at $17.52, including France, Germany, and Spain, and five at $14.01, including Portugal and Croatia, are eurozone members reporting round local prices of €15 and €12.
Europe is far from uniform, however. Hungary sits at $12.88 and Bulgaria at $11.94, while the continent’s spread runs more than fivefold from Switzerland to Kosovo at $5.84.
The U.S. Ranks Ninth
The U.S. ranks ninth at $20.00, making it the only non-European country in the top 10. Italy sits just above it at $20.19.
Austria ranks 10th at $18.68, followed by Canada at $18.11, about 10% cheaper than the U.S.
Japan Is the Cheapest G7 Country
Japan ranks 69th of 98 at $6.29, below the global median and far cheaper than any other G7 economy. The next-cheapest members, France and Germany, cost nearly three times as much.
The low price does not signal a thin restaurant sector: Japan ranks third worldwide with 351 https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-countries-with-the-most-michelin-starred-restaurants/, behind only France and Italy.
Japan also undercuts Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Among its high-income neighbors, only Taiwan, at $4.71, is cheaper. Japan’s placement reflects what a visitor holding dollars would pay, not what the meal represents to a household earning yen.
Asia and Africa Have the Cheapest Meals
Indonesia at $1.70 and Bolivia at $1.73 sit just above Bangladesh at the bottom. Eleven of the 20 cheapest countries are in Asia and five are in Africa, where Nigeria is the cheapest entry at $1.85.
South Asia clusters near the bottom, with Nepal at $1.96, India at $2.09, and Pakistan at $2.16. China comes in at $2.98.
Six of the world’s 10 most populous countries rank among the 20 cheapest, meaning some of the lowest restaurant prices in the dataset apply to countries containing a substantial share of the world’s population.
If you enjoyed this visualization, check out https://www.voronoiapp.com/demographics/Ranked-Worlds-Best-Cities-for-Food-8503 on the Voronoi app.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Fri, 09/25/2026 - 02:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/switzerland-still-most-expensive-place-world-eat-out