The Most Expensive Countries to Rent an Apartment

The affordability of rent can be an object lesson about the relative relationship between income and cost of living, especially when making these comparisons across countries. An expatriate with a stable income may find renting an apartment in Mexico to be a bargain relative to their wealth and income, while local residents struggle to cover basic costs of living.

This is important to consider when comparing the cost of renting across the globe as a globetrotting retiree or someone younger who is considering life abroad.

To identify the most expensive countries to rent a 1-bedroom apartment, 24/7 Wall St. relied on data from Numbeo, an online database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide. Numbeo considered 109 countries.

Lebanon, which is suffering a catastrophic economic crisis right now, has among the world’s highest rent prices of the countries considered. But affordability is relative to the average local monthly income, and Lebanese people earn relatively lower wages, if they have a job at all. So while rent is astronomical to them, it might be a bargain to an outsider looking in.

Then there are economically stable and wealthy countries like Germany, where rent prices are also among the highest in the world. But the typical German earns relatively higher wages and can afford to pay the higher rent prices more easily thanks to better local wages and stronger social benefits. These are the richest countries in the world.

The United States ranks among the top 10 countries with the highest rent but also among the top 10 countries with the highest wages. This is the state where people are $5,000 behind on rent.

Here are the most expensive countries to rent a one-bedroom apartment.
Click here to see our detailed methodology.

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