According to Numbeo’s cost of living index, Lebanon is the third most expensive Arab country to live in after Kuwait and Qatar. Lebanon came ahead of UAE even though UAE’s local purchasing power is twice as much as Lebanon’s, which is definitely not a good sign. Moreover, if we look at the quality of life index, UAE is in the top 20 while Lebanon is in the bottom 20. Switzerland and Norway topped the list with the highest cost of living index while Pakistan, Nepal and India were found to be the cheapest countries to live in.
Lebanon was also ranked the 11th most polluted country in the world. You can check out all the lists [here].
Numbeo is based on people’s perception rather than hard data, and given that the Lebanese are the kings and queen of drama and self-deprecation, one can easily see how the website came to such results especially when it comes to pollution. As for cost of living, I live in Dubai and rent is 3 to 5 times higher than Lebanon. Consumer products such as food and clothes are practically the same, except when it comes to the price of fruits and vegetables which is way higher in the UAE. Electricity and water bill is kind of the same and yes I included both EDL and “Moteur” (electric generator) bills. To be fair though, many products are more expensive in Lebanon and I understand that purchasing power in Lebanon in way lower and the country is not that big on environment. To say that there is room for improvement would be the understatement of the century. Lebanon needs to improve on all levels and to make this point no need to portray the country as worse than what it actually is.
Take the BigMac Index,
you will get that the Big Mac costs twice the price in the UEA (since the Lebanese measure is not included, just take the regular price and made the calculations).
Some right claims in this article but also many wrong claims. According to Numbeo as well:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Lebanon&city1=Beirut&country2=United+Arab+Emirates&city2=Dubai
Dubai is more expensive than Beirut in general.
Also, I also agree with Doreen.