Comparing countries fairly: same product, same unit, same day

The most common mistakes when you compare prices between two countries, and how we avoid them.

Shoppers walking between stall rows towards Chatuchak's clock tower
Chatuchak's clock tower at the centre of the market.Photo: Thomas Woodtli from Zürich, Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Three common mistakes

Putting two countries’ prices side by side looks easy. Three things make it misleading.

  • A different product. Jasmine, white and basmati rice are not the same product. We never merge different types.
  • A different pack. The price of a 500 g pasta pack says little next to a 1 kg pack. We bring prices to a common unit, such as per kilo or per litre.
  • A different day. Prices and exchange rates move. Every comparison shows when the prices were collected.

What we do

We tie each price to one local product type. We leave out promotional, members-only and out-of-stock prices. A product without a usable price in both countries is not compared.

How is the currency converted?

We convert your budget with the European Central Bank’s daily reference rates. For the lira we use the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye’s indicative dollar rate, and for the dirham the Central Bank of the UAE’s published rate of 3.6725. These are reference rates, not the rate a bank or exchange office would give you.

Next

See the Data & methodology page for the details, or try the comparison tool.

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