As of September 2024, Mumbai had the highest cost of living among other cities in the country, with an index value of ****. Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi and part of the National Capital Region (NCR) followed it with an index value of ****.  What is cost of living? The cost of living varies depending on geographical regions and factors that affect the cost of living in an area include housing, food, utilities, clothing, childcare, and fuel among others. The cost of living is calculated based on different measures such as the consumer price index (CPI), living cost indexes, and wage price index. CPI refers to the change in the value of consumer goods and services. The wage price index, on the other hand, measures the change in labor services prices due to market pressures. Lastly, the living cost indexes calculate the impact of changing costs on different households. The relationship between wages and costs determines affordability and shifts in the cost of living. Mumbai tops the list Mumbai usually tops the list of most expensive cities in India. As the financial and entertainment hub of the country, Mumbai offers wide opportunities and attracts talent from all over the country. It is the second-largest city in India and has one of the most expensive real estates in the world.

The statistic shows the inflation rate in India from 1987 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. The inflation rate is calculated using the price increase of a defined product basket. This product basket contains products and services, on which the average consumer spends money throughout the year. They include expenses for groceries, clothes, rent, power, telecommunications, recreational activities and raw materials (e.g. gas, oil), as well as federal fees and taxes. In 2024, the inflation rate in India was around 4.67 percent compared to the previous year. See figures on India's economic growth for additional information. India's inflation rate and economy Inflation is generally defined as the increase of prices of goods and services over a certain period of time, as opposed to deflation, which describes a decrease of these prices. Inflation is a significant economic indicator for a country. The inflation rate is the rate at which the general rise in the level of prices, goods and services in an economy occurs and how it affects the cost of living of those living in a particular country. It influences the interest rates paid on savings and mortgage rates but also has a bearing on levels of state pensions and benefits received. A 4 percent increase in the rate of inflation in 2011 for example would mean an individual would need to spend 4 percent more on the goods he was purchasing than he would have done in 2010. India’s inflation rate has been on the rise over the last decade. However, it has been decreasing slightly since 2010. India’s economy, however, has been doing quite well, with its GDP increasing steadily for years, and its national debt decreasing. The budget balance in relation to GDP is not looking too good, with the state deficit amounting to more than 9 percent of GDP.

The average for 2021 based on 10 countries was 59.91 index points. The highest value was in Singapore: 118.34 index points and the lowest value was in India: 40.44 index points. The indicator is available from 2017 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

During the financial year 2023, the cost inflation index (CII) in India stood at 348. This was an increase from the previous year's figure of 331. The CII is used to compute an asset's inflation-adjusted cost price. It is used to assess the inflation value of assets like land, houses, jewelry etc.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food, and medical care. It is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket and averaging them. Prices are collected periodically, and the CPI is often used to measure inflation, reflecting the cost of living. The CPI is typically set against a base year. The index is set to 100 in the base year, and changes in the CPI indicate price changes compared to that year. A typical household might purchase a wide range of products and services. Items in the basket are weighted according to their importance or share in total household spending. The Inflation Rate is the percentage increase in the general level of prices for goods and services over a period of time. It indicates how much prices have risen over a specific period, typically a year. Higher inflation decreases the purchasing power of money, meaning consumers can buy less with the same amount of money.It reflects the overall health of an economy. Moderate inflation is expected in a growing economy, but hyperinflation can indicate economic instability. The Inflation Rate is calculated using the following formula: Inflation Rate (%) = ((CPI in Current Year−CPI in Previous Year)/ (CPI in Previous Year))×100

The average salary for male employees in urban area was the highest during the months of April to June 2020 at about ** thousand Indian rupees. The average salary drawn by female workers was the highest in the months of April to June 2020, however, lesser compared to their male counterparts. Unsurprisingly, the urban earnings in terms of wages and salaries are always higher than rural employees. Urban versus rural employment The gender gap in salaries was more prominent in rural areas, where, the male workers earned nearly an average of *** times more. However, urban employees just earn a few thousands more than their rural counterpart, while, the cost of living in cities is twice as expensive as villages. Moreover, a majority of the Indian households belonged to the middle-income bracket and this is expected to increase in the future. Wage disparity Wage inequalities are present in almost every sector and widens with higher skill levels. With the evident gender disparity in the country, women with lower educational qualifications, such as a high school diplomas continue working despite the pay gap. This is among women who primarily come from the lower economic sector. Moreover, the social mobility index for fair wage distribution was **** as of 2020, indicating a need for improvement.

Consumer Price Index CPI in India increased to 194.20 points in June from 193 points in May of 2025. This dataset provides - India Consumer Price Index (CPI) - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

According to a survey conducted in June 2022 in India, 35 percent of urban respondents cut their expenses on clothes and accessories as the cost of living increased. Other major cost-cutting options among consumers are hobbies, leisure activities, and fuel spending.

The average for 2021 based on 165 countries was 105.854 index points. The highest value was in South Korea: 208.84 index points and the lowest value was in India: 58.17 index points. The indicator is available from 2017 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The combined consumer price index across India was 192.9 as of July 2024. Rural India registered a higher CPI as compared to urban India. The rural CPI has consistently stayed above than urban CPI during the recorded period. CPI measures the overall change in prices of goods and services for consumers.

According to a survey conducted in 2015 across India, over ** percent of the surveyed households had an average monthly income up to 10,000 Indian rupees. This percentage varied among the rural and urban areas, where over ** percent of the rural households and ** percent of the urban households earned up to 10,000 Indian rupees monthly. India had a high rate of rural to urban migration, as Indian cities provided better standards of living and employment opportunities.

Multiple income generators

For most of the population, income is earned in form of wages or salary, rent from residential or commercial property, interest from financial investments, and profits from family businesses. Most Indian households have multiple earning members to support consumption expenses on a day to day basis. During the surveyed year, around ** percent of the households had a single earner, mostly the head of the family, followed by about ** percent of households with two earning members.

Employment scenario

There are a lot of uncertainties in the job market in India. Non-availability of jobs matching education and skills was one of the main reasons for unemployment among Indian graduates. Underemployment was also a problem, and it was higher in urban areas than rural ones. Even though a majority of the population was self-employed, most jobs taken by workers had no written job contracts in both the salaried and casual employment sectors.

The average cost per diabetic patient was approximately ***** U.S. dollars in North America and the Caribbean in 2024. This amount was far greater than for any other region. Within this region specifically, average diabetes-related health expenditure was by far the highest in the United States. Highest spending per patient In 2024, the average yearly cost per person with diabetes was the highest in Switzerland, where costs ran over ** thousand U.S. dollars per patient. The United States stood in second place that year, with approximately ****** U.S. dollars per person per year. Norway and Iceland were also among the ten highest spending countries. Diabetes mellitus worldwide In 2024, the country with the highest number of diabetic people in the world was China, which had a diabetic population of around *** million. India had the second-highest number of diabetics that year, with almost ** million people. These are, however, the world’s most populous countries. When comparing the number of diabetic people within a country to the rest of the country’s population, the results are quite different. In 2024, close to a ***** of the people living in Pakistan had the condition, making it the country with the highest prevalence of diabetes in the world.

Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2024. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 116.2 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

Inflation is generally defined as the continued increase in the average prices of goods and services in a given region. Following the extremely high global inflation experienced in the 1980s and 1990s, global inflation has been relatively stable since the turn of the millennium, usually hovering between three and five percent per year. There was a sharp increase in 2008 due to the global financial crisis now known as the Great Recession, but inflation was fairly stable throughout the 2010s, before the current inflation crisis began in 2021. Recent years Despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the global inflation rate fell to 3.26 percent in the pandemic's first year, before rising to 4.66 percent in 2021. This increase came as the impact of supply chain delays began to take more of an effect on consumer prices, before the Russia-Ukraine war exacerbated this further. A series of compounding issues such as rising energy and food prices, fiscal instability in the wake of the pandemic, and consumer insecurity have created a new global recession, and global inflation in 2024 is estimated to have reached 5.76 percent. This is the highest annual increase in inflation since 1996. Venezuela Venezuela is the country with the highest individual inflation rate in the world, forecast at around 200 percent in 2022. While this is figure is over 100 times larger than the global average in most years, it actually marks a decrease in Venezuela's inflation rate, which had peaked at over 65,000 percent in 2018. Between 2016 and 2021, Venezuela experienced hyperinflation due to the government's excessive spending and printing of money in an attempt to curve its already-high inflation rate, and the wave of migrants that left the country resulted in one of the largest refugee crises in recent years. In addition to its economic problems, political instability and foreign sanctions pose further long-term problems for Venezuela. While hyperinflation may be coming to an end, it remains to be seen how much of an impact this will have on the economy, how living standards will change, and how many refugees may return in the coming years.

In 2022, ethnic Chinese households had the highest mean monthly household income in Malaysia, at around 10.66 thousand Malaysian ringgit. This was more than three thousand ringgit higher than Bumiputera households. Despite the implementation of affirmative action through Article 153 of the Malaysian constitution, the economic position of the Bumiputera vis-à-vis other ethnicities still left much room for improvement.

Historical policies, ethnicity, and the urban-rural divide The Bumiputera make up the majority of the Malaysian population, yet have one of the lowest average monthly household incomes in Malaysia. This economic disparity could be explained by the effects of colonial policies that kept the Bumiputera largely in the countryside. This resulted in an urban-rural divide that was characterized by ethnicity, with the immigrant Chinese and Indian laborers concentrated in the urban centers, a demographic pattern that is still evident today.

There was a considerable difference in urban and rural household incomes in Malaysia, with urban household income being around 3.6 thousand ringgit more than rural households. This was largely due to the fact that wages in urban areas had to keep up with the higher cost of living there. This thus impacted the average monthly incomes of the largely rural-based Bumiputera and the largely urban-based ethnic Chinese. This visible wealth inequality has led to racial tensions in Malaysia, and it is still one of the problem in the country amidst a new government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was elected in 2022.

In 2024, the price of natural gas in Europe reached 11 constant U.S. dollars per million British thermal units, compared with 2.2 U.S. dollars in the U.S. This was a notable decrease compared to the previous year, which had seen a steep increase in prices due to an energy supply shortage exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war. Since 1980, natural gas prices have typically been higher in Europe than in the United States and are expected to remain so for the coming two years. This is due to the U.S. being a significantly larger natural gas producer than Europe. What is natural gas and why is it gaining ground in the energy market? Natural gas is commonly burned in power plants with combustion turbines that generate electricity or used as a heating fuel. Given the fact that the world’s energy demand continues to grow, natural gas was seen by some industry leaders as an acceptable "bridge-fuel" to overcome the use of more emission-intensive energy sources such as coal. Subsequently, natural gas has become the main fuel for electricity generation in the U.S., while the global gas power generation share has reached over 22 percent. How domestic production shapes U.S. natural gas prices The combination of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and horizontal drilling can be regarded as one of the oil and gas industry’s biggest breakthroughs in decades, with the U.S. being the largest beneficiary. This technology has helped the industry release unprecedented quantities of gas from deposits, mainly shale and tar sands that were previously thought either inaccessible or uneconomic. It is forecast that U.S. shale gas production could reach 36 trillion cubic feet in 2050, up from 1.77 trillion cubic feet in 2000.