Almaty Ranked More Expensive Than Astana in Global Cost of Living List

Almaty has surpassed Astana in Numbeo’s cost of living ranking. The platform has updated its data for the first half of 2026, Orda.kz reports.

Numbeo compares cities using six indicators: cost of living, rent, cost of living plus rent, grocery prices, restaurant prices and purchasing power.

New York City is used as the benchmark, with an index of 100. The closer a city’s score is to this level, the more expensive it is to live there.

In the first half of 2026, Almaty’s cost of living index was 38.7, its rent index was 16.2, and its cost of living plus rent index was 28.4. Astana’s figures were lower: 32.8, 12.6 and 23.6, respectively.

At the same time, Almaty remains the most expensive city in Central Asia. Astana ranks second, followed by Tashkent in 487th place, Bishkek in 493rd and Dushanbe in 497th.

Zurich is the most expensive city in the world, with a cost of living index of 123.1. Georgetown in the Cayman Islands, Lucerne, Basel and Geneva rounded out the top five. Four of the five most expensive cities are in Switzerland.

Indian cities occupied the bottom of the ranking. Coimbatore had the lowest cost of living among the cities listed, with 17.3 points. Lucknow, Rajkot, Guwahati, Bhopal and Surat ranked just above it.

Original author: Raushan Korzhumbekova

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