Is Madagascar the cheapest country to live in?

Close, but not quite. In CostLiving’s index the cheapest country is Egypt at $550 a month for a moderate single-person lifestyle, with a handful of others under $900, including India at $875 and Nepal at $900. Madagascar’s moderate benchmark of $1,000 a month puts it firmly in the cheapest group worldwide but not at the very bottom of the table. The gap has a logic to it: island economies import more of what daily life needs, and shipping costs reach the shelf price of everything from fuel to flour. What Madagascar offers that the spreadsheet misses is the trade itself, an extraordinary natural setting at a cost few countries match. Whether it beats Egypt or Nepal for you depends on what you’re optimising: pure monthly cost, visa practicality, healthcare access, or the kind of life the money buys. The full worldwide ranking is in our cheapest places to live guide, and country detail is on our Madagascar cost of living page.