the interactive Big Mac index

Of interest to travelers, this index begun by The Economist magazine in 1986 as a guide to relative price levels in general around the world, has been made more user friendly.  The index assumes that as a standardised mostly local product with reasonable components of labor and other overheads, a McDonalds Big Mac hamburger should serve as a guide as to how relatively expensive or cheap things should be in general.

The chart is largely as you would expect, although there are a few surprises.  Last month a Big Mac on average cost $4.37 in the US.  Converted, the price in NZ was about the same, in Canada a quarter more, and in Mexico a third less.  website