Top 100 Countries by Cost of Housing vs Income, 2026
Countries Where Home Prices Are Highest Compared With Income
This ranking compares countries and economies by price-to-income ratio, one of the clearest cross-country signals for housing affordability by country. Nigeria ranks first in the Numbeo 2026 country table with a ratio of 93.7, followed by Sri Lanka, Ghana, Cuba and Cameroon.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The page uses the Numbeo Property Prices Index by Country 2026 annual table, not the separate 2026 Mid-Year table. Values come from the Price To Income Ratio column and are sorted from highest to lowest. A higher ratio means the estimated apartment purchase price is larger relative to the income figure used in Numbeo’s formula, so housing looks less affordable by this measure.
Numbeo’s price-to-income calculation assumes a 90 m² apartment, uses the average of city-centre and outside-centre prices per square metre, and compares that estimated apartment price with yearly family disposable income based on 1.5 × average net salary. The ranking is based on Numbeo data, not official government data.
The highest house price-to-income ratio by country in the Numbeo 2026 table.
The 100th entry in this ranking of the most unaffordable housing markets by this ratio.
Median ratio across the 100 listed countries and economies.
Country-level property price-to-income values sorted from highest to lowest.
Nigeria is the clear outlier at the top of the table.
The five highest entries are far above the table median.
Countries and economies are included in the ranking.
Lower ratios indicate better purchase affordability by this metric.
Overview: what the price-to-income ratio means
The price-to-income ratio compares an estimated apartment purchase price with estimated family disposable income. In practical terms, it asks how many years of income are implied by the apartment price used in the Numbeo method. A ratio of 10 means the estimated apartment price is roughly ten times yearly family disposable income under that method.
Numbeo’s formula is specific: apartment size is set at 90 m², the property price per square metre is the average of city-centre and outside-centre prices, and family disposable income is based on 1.5 × average net salary. This makes the ratio useful for comparing housing affordability by country, but it does not replace local mortgage, income or housing-market statistics.
Countries can rank high for different reasons. Wages may be low relative to apartment prices, urban land may be scarce, supply may lag behind demand, credit conditions may inflate purchase prices, capital-city prices may dominate the national signal, or investor, tourism and migration demand may push property values beyond local earning power.
Top 10 countries by highest house price-to-income ratio
The Top 10 shows where the purchase affordability gap is largest in the Numbeo 2026 country table. Nigeria is far above the rest, while Sri Lanka, Ghana, Cuba and Cameroon also show ratios above 45.
Top 10 countries and economies by price-to-income ratio, Numbeo 2026
| Rank | Country | Ratio | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigeria | 93.7 | Africa |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 56.1 | Asia |
| 3 | Ghana | 54.6 | Africa |
| 4 | Cuba | 51.8 | Americas |
| 5 | Cameroon | 45.7 | Africa |
| 6 | Nepal | 42.4 | Asia |
| 7 | Cambodia | 36.2 | Asia |
| 8 | Philippines | 32.1 | Asia |
| 9 | Hong Kong (China) | 30.9 | Asia |
| 10 | Vietnam | 30.2 | Asia |
All values in this table are Numbeo 2026 Price To Income Ratio values. The table is sorted from highest to lowest, so the least affordable purchase markets by this metric appear first.
Chart: Top 20 most unaffordable housing markets by ratio
The chart shows how sharply the top of the ranking drops after Nigeria. The next group still has very high ratios compared with the Top 100 median of 13.0, but Nigeria remains the largest outlier.
Methodology
The ranking uses the Numbeo Property Prices Index by Country 2026 and sorts countries and economies by the Price To Income Ratio column.
What the number means
The metric is price-to-income ratio. It is a ratio, not a currency value and not a percentage. Lower values indicate better apartment purchase affordability by this measure.
Numbeo calculation
Numbeo assumes a 90 m² apartment, averages city-centre and outside-centre prices per m², and compares the estimated apartment price with yearly family disposable income based on 1.5 × average net salary.
How the ranking is sorted
Higher values rank higher because this page focuses on where home prices are highest compared with income. A higher ratio means weaker purchase affordability.
What is included
The ranking covers the first 100 countries and economies in the Numbeo 2026 country table after sorting by highest price-to-income ratio.
Values are shown to one decimal place, matching the public Numbeo country table. Regions are added for easier browsing and filtering; they do not change the values or the ranking order.
Limits: this metric does not measure rent burden, mortgage approval, mortgage interest rates, down-payment rules, property taxes, maintenance costs, subsidized housing, household size, informal income, regional inequality or housing quality. It is best read as a cross-country apartment purchase affordability signal, not a complete housing-cost diagnosis.
Main ranking: Top 100 countries by cost of housing vs income
Use the controls to search by country or economy, filter by region, change sort order, or switch between Top 10, Top 20 and the full Top 100 table. All ranking values come from Numbeo’s 2026 Price To Income Ratio table.
Top 100 countries and economies by price-to-income ratio, Numbeo 2026
| Rank | Country | Ratio | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigeria | 93.7 | Africa |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 56.1 | Asia |
| 3 | Ghana | 54.6 | Africa |
| 4 | Cuba | 51.8 | Americas |
| 5 | Cameroon | 45.7 | Africa |
| 6 | Nepal | 42.4 | Asia |
| 7 | Cambodia | 36.2 | Asia |
| 8 | Philippines | 32.1 | Asia |
| 9 | Hong Kong (China) | 30.9 | Asia |
| 10 | Vietnam | 30.2 | Asia |
| 11 | Taiwan | 25.3 | Asia |
| 12 | Indonesia | 25.0 | Asia |
| 13 | South Korea | 24.1 | Asia |
| 14 | Thailand | 24.0 | Asia |
| 15 | Singapore | 22.1 | Asia |
| 16 | El Salvador | 21.7 | Americas |
| 17 | China | 21.5 | Asia |
| 18 | Mauritius | 20.5 | Africa |
| 19 | Egypt | 20.4 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 20 | Armenia | 19.4 | Asia |
| 21 | Pakistan | 18.7 | Asia |
| 22 | Azerbaijan | 18.3 | Asia |
| 23 | Lebanon | 17.8 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 24 | Iran | 17.2 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 25 | Kenya | 17.0 | Africa |
| 26 | Colombia | 16.9 | Americas |
| 27 | Algeria | 16.5 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 28 | Dominican Republic | 15.6 | Americas |
| 29 | Chile | 15.3 | Americas |
| 30 | Brazil | 15.2 | Americas |
| 31 | Venezuela | 15.1 | Americas |
| 32 | Kyrgyzstan | 15.1 | Asia |
| 33 | Albania | 15.1 | Europe |
| 34 | Peru | 15.0 | Americas |
| 35 | Serbia | 14.8 | Europe |
| 36 | Panama | 14.3 | Americas |
| 37 | Guatemala | 14.3 | Americas |
| 38 | Moldova | 14.1 | Europe |
| 39 | Paraguay | 14.1 | Americas |
| 40 | Portugal | 13.9 | Europe |
| 41 | Bangladesh | 13.9 | Asia |
| 42 | Kosovo | 13.8 | Europe |
| 43 | Argentina | 13.7 | Americas |
| 44 | Russia | 13.7 | Europe |
| 45 | Morocco | 13.4 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 46 | Uzbekistan | 13.3 | Asia |
| 47 | Mexico | 13.3 | Americas |
| 48 | Uruguay | 13.3 | Americas |
| 49 | Czech Republic | 13.2 | Europe |
| 50 | Georgia | 13.0 | Asia |
| 51 | Montenegro | 13.0 | Europe |
| 52 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 12.9 | Europe |
| 53 | Hungary | 12.8 | Europe |
| 54 | Croatia | 12.8 | Europe |
| 55 | Ukraine | 12.8 | Europe |
| 56 | Tunisia | 12.8 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 57 | Slovakia | 12.6 | Europe |
| 58 | Slovenia | 12.5 | Europe |
| 59 | Greece | 12.5 | Europe |
| 60 | Israel | 12.2 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 61 | North Macedonia | 11.8 | Europe |
| 62 | Bolivia | 11.7 | Americas |
| 63 | Ecuador | 11.6 | Americas |
| 64 | Japan | 11.4 | Asia |
| 65 | Mongolia | 11.4 | Asia |
| 66 | Switzerland | 11.4 | Europe |
| 67 | Tajikistan | 11.4 | Asia |
| 68 | Lithuania | 11.2 | Europe |
| 69 | India | 11.0 | Asia |
| 70 | Belarus | 10.7 | Europe |
| 71 | Malta | 10.6 | Europe |
| 72 | Estonia | 10.5 | Europe |
| 73 | Romania | 10.5 | Europe |
| 74 | Poland | 10.2 | Europe |
| 75 | Costa Rica | 10.1 | Americas |
| 76 | Iraq | 10.1 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 77 | Austria | 9.9 | Europe |
| 78 | Zimbabwe | 9.5 | Africa |
| 79 | Luxembourg | 9.4 | Europe |
| 80 | Kazakhstan | 8.9 | Asia |
| 81 | Latvia | 8.9 | Europe |
| 82 | Malaysia | 8.8 | Asia |
| 83 | France | 8.6 | Europe |
| 84 | Spain | 8.5 | Europe |
| 85 | Bulgaria | 8.4 | Europe |
| 86 | Italy | 8.3 | Europe |
| 87 | Australia | 8.2 | Oceania |
| 88 | Cyprus | 8.1 | Europe |
| 89 | United Kingdom | 8.0 | Europe |
| 90 | New Zealand | 8.0 | Oceania |
| 91 | Norway | 8.0 | Europe |
| 92 | Germany | 7.9 | Europe |
| 93 | Iceland | 7.7 | Europe |
| 94 | Sweden | 7.6 | Europe |
| 95 | Jordan | 7.5 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 96 | Canada | 7.5 | Americas |
| 97 | Netherlands | 7.5 | Europe |
| 98 | United Arab Emirates | 7.4 | Middle East & North Africa |
| 99 | Turkey | 7.3 | Europe |
| 100 | Finland | 7.2 | Europe |
All ranking values come from the Numbeo Property Prices Index by Country 2026, Price To Income Ratio column. Values were accessed on July 4, 2026 and are shown to one decimal place.
Insights from the Top 100 housing affordability ranking
Key insight
Nigeria is the largest outlier. Its ratio of 93.7 is more than 13 times the 100th entry, Finland at 7.2, and far above the table median of 13.0.
Notable pattern
Asia has six of the Top 10 entries, reflecting strong purchase pressure in several dense urban markets where apartment prices are high relative to local income levels.
Regional concentration
Europe has many entries in the Top 100, but most are in the middle and lower parts of this high-ratio list rather than at the extreme top.
Outlier
Hong Kong ranks ninth as an economy in the table. Its position is consistent with limited land supply, dense urban development and very high apartment prices.
What this ranking means for readers
A high price-to-income ratio means the estimated apartment purchase price is large compared with the family income figure used in Numbeo’s formula. It does not mean every household in that country faces the same burden, because access to ownership also depends on savings, mortgage rules, interest rates, family support, taxes and local housing supply.
The ranking is useful for comparing broad ownership pressure across countries and economies. It is less useful for choosing a city to live in because national values can hide large differences between capital cities, tourist regions, secondary cities and rural areas.
Countries differ because the ratio combines two moving parts: apartment prices and income. A wealthy country can rank lower if incomes offset high prices, while a lower-income country can rank very high if urban apartment prices are far above local salary levels.
FAQ
Which country has the highest housing cost compared with income?
Nigeria ranks first in this Numbeo 2026 table, with a price-to-income ratio of 93.7.
What does price-to-income ratio mean?
It compares an estimated apartment purchase price with estimated yearly family disposable income. A higher value means the apartment price is larger relative to income.
How does Numbeo calculate this housing affordability measure?
Numbeo assumes a 90 m² apartment, uses the average of city-centre and outside-centre prices per square metre, and compares that estimated apartment price with yearly family disposable income based on 1.5 × average net salary.
Is this government housing data?
No. The values come from Numbeo’s public property price index. The ranking is useful for comparison, but it should not be treated as official government data.
Is price-to-income ratio the same as rent burden?
No. Price-to-income ratio focuses on purchase affordability. Rent burden, rent-to-income ratio and mortgage payment burden are different measures.
Why can high-income countries rank lower?
High incomes can offset high home prices in the ratio. A country may still feel expensive locally even if its national price-to-income ratio is lower than in lower-income markets.
What should this metric not be used for?
It should not be used as a full measure of mortgage approval, rent pressure, housing quality, down-payment difficulty or city-level affordability. It is a country-level comparison of apartment purchase pressure.
Sources
Numbeo Property Prices Index by Country 2026
All ranking values come from this Numbeo table and its Price To Income Ratio column.
Numbeo property index explanation
Explains the price-to-income ratio formula, including the 90 m² apartment assumption, the 1.5 × average net salary income figure and the city-centre/outside-centre price approach.
OECD housing prices indicator
Context only. OECD explains how price-to-income measures are used in housing analysis, but OECD values are not used for the ranking rows on this page.
World Bank Data360 / IMF Global Housing Watch
Context only. This reference helps explain the broader price-to-income concept in housing-market analysis; it does not replace the Numbeo table used here.
