The cheapest countries in Asia in 2026

The cheapest country in Asia is Indonesia, where a Big Mac costs $2.38, followed by Taiwan and India. At the top end, Singapore charges $5.77, 2.4 times as much. But cheap for a visitor is not cheap for a local: measured in minutes of work at average income, Indonesia ranks #7 of 12, and the burger is easiest to afford in Hong Kong.

Two ways to read Asian prices

Asian prices span a very wide range, so we show each country twice. The first view is what a visitor with US dollars pays: the Big Mac price from The Economist’s Big Mac Index, petrol (gas) and household electricity from GlobalPetrolPrices, all in dollars. The second view is what the same burger costs a local, in minutes of work at the country’s average income (World Bank GNI per capita, spread over a 40-hour week). The burger is a good test because its price is driven mainly by local wages and rent, so it moves with what street food, taxis and services cost.

This guide covers East, Southeast and South Asia; the Gulf and the rest of West Asia get their own section below. Hotels, flights and rents are not included because we don’t track them.

Big Mac prices are from the July 2026 survey; fuel and power were retrieved October 13, 2026. The regional median Big Mac is $3.25.

Cheap for you, expensive for them

The work-time column tells a different story from the dollar column. In Pakistan, a burger that costs a visitor $3.89 takes a local about 5.4 hrs of work. In Hong Kong it takes about 6 min, even though the dollar price is lower ($3.25). That gap is the reason low prices exist at all: where wages are low, everything made with local labour is cheap too. It is also why the countries that feel cheapest to visit tend to be ones where imported goods, from phones to fuel, take a much bigger bite out of local pay. The affordability index applies the same lens to phones and subscriptions.

Rich, but not expensive

The surprise in Asia is how many high-income economies price like middle-income ones. Japan and Hong Kong both have average incomes above $30,000 a year yet sell a Big Mac at or below the regional median. By contrast, South Korea and Singapore are both rich and above the median.

Japan is the headline case. Its Big Mac costs $3.08, #6 of 13 in Asia, in a country where a local earns enough to buy one in about 10 min of work. A long stretch of weak yen means a visitor’s dollars buy far more in Japan than its income level would suggest. The same effect shows up in electronics; see our guide to tax-free shopping in Japan. The opposite of cheap shows up at the pump in Hong Kong, where petrol is the dearest in Asia at $4.41 a litre, while its Big Mac costs $3.25, at or below the regional median.

Fuel and power across 27 Asian countries

Energy prices reach further than the Big Mac Index. Across 27 countries from Central Asia to Japan, the cheapest petrol is in Turkmenistan at $0.43 a litre and the dearest in Hong Kong at $4.41, a 10-fold gap. Household electricity is cheapest in Bhutan ($0.015), Kyrgyzstan ($0.015) and Myanmar ($0.025), and dearest in Singapore at $0.236 per kWh. Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan run largely on hydropower. For anyone staying a month or more, power matters: air conditioning runs up bills fast in the tropics. Every country is on the electricity price table.

The Gulf and West Asia

The Gulf states and their neighbours are a different market. Their Big Macs run from $3.53 in Jordan to $7.67 in Israel; none come in at or under the East and South Asian median. Fuel is where they stand apart: 5 of them sell petrol for less than Indonesia does. Our Gulf petrol prices guide compares the six GCC states in detail.

For a global ranking that puts Asia next to Europe and Latin America, see the cheapest countries to visit, or start with the Indonesia country page.