Almaty becomes Central Asia’s most expensive city, Tashkent ranks fourth

The portal Numbeo has updated its city cost-of-living index. According to the new data, Kazakhstan’s Almaty leads Central Asian cities in living costs. Tashkent comes in fourth place.

Almaty’s cost-of-living index reached 29.4 points, placing it 346th globally. Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, scored 26.5, ranking 366th, while Bishkek (26.8) is 364th and Tashkent (26.2) ranks 370th. Cities in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were not included in the ranking.

Analysts highlighted the dynamics of the purchasing power index. Over the past five years, both major Kazakh cities have shown growth: Astana’s index rose to 59.4 points (from 45.3 in 2020) and Almaty’s to 55.9 (from 36.3). This is higher than Tashkent (49.3) and Bishkek (40.4) but noticeably lower than Moscow and Minsk, where residents have greater purchasing power for goods and services.

Earlier this spring, Kazakhstan ranked first in Central Asia for quality of life, placing 70th globally. Turkmenistan was 96th, Uzbekistan 108th, Kyrgyzstan 119th, and Tajikistan 128th.

In compiling the ranking, experts considered factors such as life quality and expectancy, education levels, political stability, per capita income, and opportunities for personal development.

Globally, the most expensive cities remain in Switzerland, with Zurich (112.5), Geneva (111.4), Basel (110.7), Lausanne (110.5), Lugano (108.4), and Bern (103.4) leading the list. Living costs there exceed those in New York by 3.4–12.5 percent.

The most affordable cities are in India and Pakistan. Among the ten cheapest cities, six are in India, three in Pakistan, and one in Libya.