Living cost in Dhaka down midyear

The cost of living in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital city, declined midyear in 2025 compared to the same period last year, aided by local production, according to a database that tracks global living conditions.

The latest crowdsourced data of Serbia-based Numbeo-world's largest cost-of-living database--show Dhaka's cost-of-living index stood at 23.5 in June 2025, down from 25.1 in June 2024. The index reflects overall expenses, including consumer prices, rents and groceries.

Grocery index, a key component of living costs, also edged down to 28.3 in June 2025, a 0.7-point drop from the same time last year. However, rental costs remained unchanged over the year, according to the online platform.

Economists say the decline in the index is mainly due to easing inflation during this period.

"The cost of living in Dhaka appears to have declined compared to last year's, mainly due to reduced inflationary pressure in mid-2025," says Dr Zahid Hussain, a noted Bangladeshi economist.

He adds that prices of many locally produced food items stayed relatively low at the farm level, although consumer prices in Dhaka remained high because of "inefficiencies" in the distribution system.

Dr Hussain cautions that Numbeo's data, which depend largely on user submissions, may not fully reflect citywide variations but still provide a useful benchmark for comparing urban living costs globally.

Notwithstanding the slight decline, Dhaka ranked the 72nd among 93 Asian cities surveyed in June 2025, while Singapore remained most expensive city in Asia during the period.

In South Asia, Dhaka ranked 6th out of 27 cities in terms of cost of living. Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, was rated region's most expensive city, while Coimbatore in India was least expensive.

Globally, Dhaka was ranked 379th out of 404 cities, indicating a comparatively lower cost of living than in most global cities. Swiss cities continued to dominate the top of the global list, with Zurich ranking world's most expensive city in June 2025, overtaking Geneva, which topped the list in 2024.

Founded in 2009, Numbeo compiles data on consumer prices, housing, healthcare, crime perception, traffic, and other quality-of-life indicators. It was launched following the 2007-2009 global financial crisis to address the need for more accessible, granular data on urban living costs worldwide.

By leveraging user-contributed data and feedback, Numbeo provides regularly updated insights that are widely used by individuals, researchers, and policymakers to compare living costs, make relocation decisions, or assess market conditions.

jasimharoon@yahoo.com