Where is rent cheapest?
Nigeria leads on monthly rent at $79/mo rent; Uzbekistan is last of the 15 shown at $217/mo rent.
Rent is the largest line in most budgets and the one that varies most between countries, so it deserves its own ranking rather than being buried in an index.
Where a figure is measured it comes from Eurostat city rents or HUD Fair Market Rents; elsewhere it is modelled from the country's price level. The country pages say which applies, and a modelled figure can be wrong by roughly a third in either direction — it is an orientation, not a quote.
| # | Country | Monthly rent | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | $79/mo rent | 23% of income |
| 2 | 🇲🇲 Myanmar | $91/mo rent | 5% of income |
| 3 | 🇪🇬 Egypt | $102/mo rent | 26% of income |
| 4 | 🇸🇾 Syria | $104/mo rent | 5% of income |
| 5 | 🇱🇦 Laos | $164/mo rent | 8% of income |
| 6 | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | $165/mo rent | 8% of income |
| 7 | 🇮🇳 India | $180/mo rent | 28% of income |
| 8 | 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | $181/mo rent | 8% of income |
| 9 | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | $185/mo rent | 8% of income |
| 10 | 🇸🇩 Sudan | $191/mo rent | 9% of income |
| 11 | 🇳🇵 Nepal | $193/mo rent | 9% of income |
| 12 | 🇹🇯 Tajikistan | $197/mo rent | 9% of income |
| 13 | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | $215/mo rent | 10% of income |
| 14 | 🇧🇮 Burundi | $217/mo rent | 10% of income |
| 15 | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | $217/mo rent | 10% of income |
How this is worked out: Median one-bedroom rent per month. Measured from Eurostat Urban Audit or HUD FMR where available, otherwise modelled from the country price level. Estimates for comparison, not advice.
Check your own numbers
A ranking is a starting point, not an answer — your income, household and destination change the order. The Housing costs runs the same engine against your own figures, and every country above links to its own page.