Bangladesh most expensive in South Asia

New York-based CEOWORLD magazine has billed Bangladesh as the most expensive country to live in South Asia and Pakistan the most affordable one in the world.

In South Asia Bangladesh ranked 110th, followed by Sri Lanka at 112.

The magazine identified the world's most and least expensive countries to live in by collecting and reviewing data from dozens of studies, consumer price index, Numbeo Cost of Living Index, numerous national and international media reports.

The rankings are based on five major metrics: cost of living, rent, groceries, eating out and purchasing power.

These data are then compiled into an index, using the notoriously expensive city of New York City (NYC) as a benchmark. New York was given an index score of 100.

So a country with a score higher than 100 is more expensive than New York, while below signals that it is cheaper.

Nepal held the third spot and, surprisingly, India, the biggest economy in South Asia, turned up as the third most affordable country to live in with its rank of 130. Afghanistan came 131th and Pakistan 132th. However, Bhutan and the Maldives were not included in the list.

The CEOWORLD magazine is a leading business publication for CEOs, CFOs, high-level executive professionals, business leaders, and high net worth individuals.

Switzerland has topped the list as the most expensive nation on earth to live in.

Of the top 20 nations, nine were in Europe, five in Asia, one in North America, one in Africa, two in the Caribbean and two in Oceania. Norway ranked second in the list, followed by Iceland, Japan, Denmark, Bahamas, Luxembourg, Israel, Singapore and South Korea.