20 January, 2015

By VIVA Team

Spain’s old-world charm is cheap as chips, while the modern resorts and cities remain affordable

A revealing infograph compiled by expat website MoveHub ranking the cost of living in 119 countries reveals that Spain is one of the most affordable places to live in Western Europe.

The data compared global prices against New York (at an average of 100) and found that the five cheapest countries in which to live are – unsurprisingly – located in Asia and North Africa, while Switzerland, Norway, Venezuela, Iceland and Denmark are the most expensive places.

In Europe, however, there was distinct east-west divide, with countries from Poland east – and southwards much cheaper than those in the west… with two exceptions…

Brown (100) is most expensive, green is cheapest

Both Spain and Portugal are among the cheapest places on the continent in which to live. MoveHub’s analysis took into account the cost of groceries at supermarkets, the price of utilities, transport costs and general day-to-day living expenses.

The study did not look at housing, education, healthcare or clothing costs, so is unlikely to be used by larger think-tanks or governments when assessing pricing policy, but nevertheless the data revealed proves interesting.

Globally, the UK is the tenth most-expensive country in which to reside, while Europe’s cheapest countries include Georgia, Moldova and Macedonia – fine nations, but hardly somewhere most Brits or Irish would wish to emigrate to.

Spain, on the other hand, with its excellent climate, superb range of affordable properties, top-notch infrastructure and direct and affordable flights from most parts of the UK, remains a wonderfully low-cost place in which to live.