ISLAMABAD
Pakistan has been ranked the least costly country among 139 countries of the world.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin stated this in a tweet on Sunday. He also shared the screenshot of the latest Numbeo’s cost of living index on his official Twitter handle.
According to Numbeo-the world’s largest cost of living database, on average, the family of four people in Pakistan costs around Rs171,783.24 per month (without rent) while a single person’s estimated monthly costs are Rs51,798.76 (without rent). The database has estimated that the cost of living in Pakistan is, on average, 71.52% lower than in the United States.
Similarly, it said the residence rent in Pakistan is, on average, 90.64% lower than in the United States. According to the Numbeo database, the average price of milk per litre in Pakistan is Rs122.56, that of rice per kg is Rs159.07, and eggs per dozen is Rs175.04.
Likewise, the price of chicken meat per kg in Pakistan is Rs393.45 per kg, beef Rs645.1 per kg, apples Rs170 per kg, oranges Rs115.29 per kg, tomatoes Rs77.86 per kg, potatoes Rs55.16 per kg, onion Rs52 per kg, water (1.5-liter bottle) Rs61.01, and cigarettes (a 20-cigarette pack Marlboro) Rs250.
In transportation, the Numbeo database has estimated the average price of the one-way tickets (local transport) at Rs40, taxi start (normal tariff) Rs150, taxi per km (normal tariff) Rs36.61, and Toyota Corolla Sedan new car at Rs3.24 million.
Similarly, the price of basic utilities (electricity, heating, cooling, water, garbage) for an 85 m2 apartment is around Rs11,425,43 per month, price of one minute of prepaid mobile tariff local is Rs2.67, that of the internet (unlimited monthly data) Rs3,596.98, one pair of jeans (Levis or similar) Rs2,527, summer dress in chain store Rs3,980, pair of Nike running shoes (mid-range) Rs8,412, and one pair of men leather business shoes Rs5,628.
Similarly, according to the Numbeo database, the rent of the apartment (1 bedroom) in the city centre in Pakistan, on average is Rs20,341, apartment (1 bedroom) outside of centre Rs 12,999.81, apartment (3 bedrooms) in city centre Rs45,441, and apartment (3 bedrooms) outside of the centre is Rs28,861.
The per square meter to buy an apartment in the city centre costs around Rs131,744 while the average cost per square meter apartment outside the city centre is Rs73,749.
The Numbeo website says it received around 10,285 entries in the past 12 months from 794 different contributors. “Our data for each country are based on all entries from all cities in that country,” it added. It further said that the data was last updated in the current month.
