How Much Does Food Cost in Your Country?

[blue Snow]

Many Indonesian member post the cost of living in Indonesia, but I am really sure it depends on what city and village you live in. I ever heard my friend who lives in Vilage can live with only $100 a month. that's cost an impossible thing today when we live on city where that $100 can spend at all only 3 days. I have experience even been economical after I don't have a job 10 years ago, I just can live with only $50 a month. I don't rent a home for sleep, because I sleep in the mosque after that I clean it and and get a free breakfast from Donatur. So with this situation, cost for live is just a number, to realize it is depend on how you manage it.

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[boty]

Many Indonesian member post the cost of living in Indonesia, but I am really sure it depends on what city and village you live in. I ever heard my friend who lives in Vilage can live with only $100 a month. that's cost an impossible thing today when we live on city where that $100 can spend at all only 3 days. I have experience even been economical after I don't have a job 10 years ago, I just can live with only $50 a month. I don't rent a home for sleep, because I sleep in the mosque after that I clean it and and get a free breakfast from Donatur. So with this situation, cost for live is just a number, to realize it is depend on how you manage it.

Everyone has their own way of managing the needs they need in a month and also expenses in the village are of course very different from expenses in the city, because if we live in the city of course we have to think about how to rent a place to live and also the cost of necessities is high unlike in the village We can still get our basic needs cheaper than in the city and if we can manage our finances well there will certainly be no difference between living in the city and living in the village.

[Darker45]

The average monthly income here is around $270. That's according to a survey. I have doubts. It could actually be lower in reality. Before anything else, please note that the income disparity in this developing country is very wide, with the top 1% earning 17% of the national income while the bottom 50% shares only 14%.^[1]

Although this could highly vary from one place to another, in my city, you can live with more or less $4 a day for food. That's composed of rice and one dish, either meat or vegetable or fish. That's if you prefer to eat at a lowly eatery.

With this income, you still have enough money left for your other expenses like rent, fare, and so on. But you are barely living. Figuratively, you're not even living; you're merely existing. But that's the general condition of the working class here. You wake up, go to work, go home, sleep. You repeat that until you die.

[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/11/24/ph-reducing-inequality-key-to-becoming-a-middle-class-society-free-of-poverty

[Razmirraz]

The standard of living costs in various countries is of course different, it is very difficult to find out how much each person actually costs for one meal because people's tastes are different. Some places may offer very cheap food, this strategy is implemented to attract buyers to visit their place. Meanwhile, other places that offer all comfort facilities for visitors will charge higher prices. I think spending on one meal depends on each individual's lifestyle, I personally prefer to buy food in simple places to maintain monthly economic stability. The taste of food sold in ordinary food stalls and food sold in luxury restaurants is almost the same, the place and way of serving it are different, making a huge difference in price.

[BRINIRHA]

Because the staple food in my country is rice. So I will start with the price of rice. Well the price of rice here is around $1usd for 1kg of rice. At the beginning of 2023, the price of rice will only be around $0.72 USD per kg. But because inflation and price increases occurred in various sectors, they then rose and are currently $1 USD per Kg.
And 1kg of rice is usually enough to feed 2 people in a small family for one day. or for three meals. because usually here we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Then we also usually buy 1/2kg chicken meat per day. at a price of around $1.2 Usd per 1/2kg. we bought cooking spices for around $0.3usd which could even be enough for 2 days. And we also bought vegetables (lately I also bought vegetables because last summer the plants in my yard dried up and I gave up on watering them). I shop for complete vegetables per day, spending around $0.7 USD. This is just a rough idea. for more details, it's actually not much different.

so that I make food for 1 day which costs approx
rice = $1usd
chicken meat= $1.2usd
cooking spices= $0.3
Vegetables= $0.7usd
total = $3.2usd.

Maybe I didn't take into account the additional costs of gas and electricity. but if I calculate it will only add costs around $ 1 USD. but that includes electricity needs for everything. so I don't include it in food costs.

So I can serve food for 2 people in my house and only spend around $3.2 USD per day. This is just for standard food, OK? And I have to admit that the cost of food in our country is quite low when compared to other more developed countries. I could even save more if I started planting vegetables again in my yard.

Meanwhile the average income here is probably around $300usd per month for a typical employee. But I don't want to reveal my own income. So I will measure by the average employee income here. So if you can spend $3.2 USD per day then in 30 days we (3.2 x 30 = 96) well we only spend $96 USD per month on food for 2 people at home. But this is just food costs. Electricity, gas, mobile credit, health and home maintenance costs and others. then $300usd won't actually have much left to save. Unless 2 people in the house work together so they earn $300x2=$600usd. So $300 USD can be enough for the needs of 2 people and the remaining $300 USD can be saved and invested.

[LogitechMouse]

In the Philippines, the average salary is about $300 to $400
~
So it is advisable here in the Philippines, if you have a partner, both of you should work to afford above minimum salary meals, save before having a child.

Thanks for this one. I would like to ask some questions.
1. Which part of the region pays $300-400$? If you are talking about our highest minimum wage which is in NCR, I did calculate, and converted it, and if you worked for 24 days, you will only get roughly $244.74 (that's based on the current PHP/USD conversion).
2. Are you living in the NCR or in the province? Because I have a relative living in NCR, and he said that the average house rent there is more or less $200. I don't know if there's any house owner in the NCR that's renting their house for $80 per month. Correct me though.
Food cost in our country is different in every region.

1. If you live in an urban area like NCR here in the Philippines, it will be hard for you to survive if you only have one source of income in your family because the prices of food out there are so damn high. From meat to milk, to vegetables, to rice, etc. I can't say a specific amount how much a family spends on food on a daily basis since I don't live in an urban area, but if I'll estimate it, the lowest would be at least 10$ per day, Of course, it will depend on some factors like how many are you in your family, where did you buy it, etc., etc.

2. Now if you're living in a rural area, or let's say a province like me, the cost of food might be lower, and it's because you can just plant in your backyard. In an urban area, I'm not saying it's impossible to plant, but it's harder than in the rural areas where they have large backyards where they can just plant any seed that they want. If you're industrious, and you have many vegetables planted in your area, that decreases that food cost since you didn't buy it. In some agricultural areas, some farmers don't buy rice because they have their own rice fields where they can just plant rice there. TBH, in rural areas, the amount of food that you can spend is more than half less than it is in urban areas.

Food cost in our country differs depending on what area you are living, but having only 1 source of income nowadays isn't enough to support a whole family of 3 unless that 1 source of income is giving you 6-digit income per month.

[Strongkored]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

Because I live in a country with a very large area, there are many differences between salaries and living costs in each region, and I will share the places where I live.
The basic salary (if according to government regulations) is around $300
House rental fee $100 (with bills and this is a simple rental house)
Meal Cost $4.5-$6 = $180 (with 3 meals and varied menu)
Transportation $1-$1.5/day=$37.5-$40
The average person will find it difficult to save because their salary will automatically run out for just one month's living and they will get more when there is a bonus or when there are religious holidays.
However, this is not the full picture because even in big cities there are still people who receive wages below the standards set by the government so they will fall into the category of poor people and the government will routinely distribute assistance every month in the form of rice but unfortunately many poor people also do not receive this assistance.

[libert19]

Indian estimates according to my experience, it's huge country prices vary a lot.

In hotels you can get full size meal for about $2 (search Indian thali for image on Google). Most Vegetables start with 0.25 USD/KG. Rice-lentils start from 0.50 USD/KG (depends on quality, branded items cost more), milk 0.6 USD/KG.

Fast food costs 0.36 USD/plate, some items half of it.

Average income about 250 USD.

If you watch westerners exploring India on YouTube , you'll get better idea.

[Marvell1]

The standard of living costs in various countries is of course different, it is very difficult to find out how much each person actually costs for one meal because people's tastes are different. Some places may offer very cheap food, this strategy is implemented to attract buyers to visit their place. Meanwhile, other places that offer all comfort facilities for visitors will charge higher prices. I think spending on one meal depends on each individual's lifestyle, I personally prefer to buy food in simple places to maintain monthly economic stability. The taste of food sold in ordinary food stalls and food sold in luxury restaurants is almost the same, the place and way of serving it are different, making a huge difference in price.

That's right, it's not just income and living costs that vary from country to country. Even regions and provinces within a country will have huge differences in prices and living costs. Therefore, the cost of living depends on the personal income of each person and each household and there cannot be a general assessment. If we have a low income, we will have a completely different spending level than those with higher incomes and vice versa.

When I was a worker, I only spent 2 USD/day on main meals or even ate at work to save money. But when my income improved dramatically and my expenses sometimes went up to $50 per day, it was hard to know what the average cost was.

[summonerrk]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

In the country where I live, food is considered expensive compared to the global average prices. But I want to note one important detail that the author of the topic missed: the quality of food is also different all over the world. Chicken fillet in the USA is very expensive, it is considered a healthy food, while it has almost no taste and smell. At the same time, in my country, the taste of chicken is excellent, you can always smell and taste. Therefore, sometimes it is better that the products are not cheap, but the taste qualities should be in the food! After all, gastronomic sensations are one of the greatest joys in life.

[Cookdata]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

This question doesn't have basis nor direction. It's a plain question that is supposed to have a specificity because I don't understand how you want to know cost of living in a country when you know that there would be many answers because we have urban areas and rural areas. Even urban areas cost of living different and if you are been given wrong information, you can assumed that it's the truth but meanwhile, it's the wrong information.

Let me give you some instances: In nigeria, we have big cities like Lagos, Portharcourt, Abuja, this cities are the kind of place you will find everything, social life is there, Real Estate development and many more but do you know that we have more big cities like the ones I made mention? The problem with the other one might be challenging due to difference in religion, places like Kano is a big city but you can't socialize like that in Kano because of their believe and cost of living is different despite they are all big cities in Nigeria. We have other big cities I didn't mention and you cannot compare the cost of living in these areas because of differences in ethnicity, security and many more.

[angrybirdy]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

In Philippines, The basic monthly salary offer is $250.00- $300.00 and the average income is $650.00 but it depends on your location because we have a city and provincial rate. Provincial rate is lower than the city rate because of the cost of living in City is much higher especially Around BGC, Makati and Manila. For the cost of one meal is $3.00 and the standard food menu from Fast food chain is chicken, Rice and Drinks. To save money, better to cook your own food than buying outside, as well as having your own car to lessen your Transportation expenses.

[leonair]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

I think almost all countries are going through recession now. Although the price of food products is high in European countries, there is sufficient income, but in African and Asian countries, the cost of food is much higher than the income for middle and low class families. So I think most of the users of this forum will say almost the same.  Currently, the prices of food products are increasing at a huge rate.  Which is beyond the reach of some

[kryptqnick]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

There are websites that can help get the general idea based on inputs of people who have actually lived in various countries and cities. I've used Numbeo for that multiple times, both just for fun and when planning to relocate somewhere. I think the prices are fairly accurate, but estimated monthly costs are not, they are way higher than people can normally afford.
Based on personal experience, drinks and a couple of main courses cost around $25. If you shop for food, $550 is enough for food for two people per month (but of course it's pretty subjective and depends a lot on what sort of things you buy). I can't tell you the prices for one person because I don't live alone, and prices for two people are normally lower than for one because you can buy bigger packs of things, cook meals for two, etc. As for average monthly income after taxes, it's around $550 per person.

[Dunamisx]

Since inflation is going higher each day, we should also expect that the purchasing rate of food items should also inflate in price, people are finding it more difficult because food items are getting expensive daily, the only means to survive out of these is to go i to agricultural farming business or for our own self and family sustainability, this will reduce the cost of what we buy or spend on food items, but on a general sense, food items shouldn't be expensive to that extent that people will find buying them unaffordable, everyone should have access to what to eat daily as long as they can afford to work.

[PytagoraZ]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

I don't know what good this survey will bring to you, but I would like to say that even if I live in my country's city, let's say any small city, it does not mean the rates in a country are the same everywhere. The rates at my place cannot be the same as they might be in another city. But to give you a hard guess, for simple food in my city, which is roti and salad, we have to pay at least 150 to 200 pkr per meal (in dollars, it becomes $0.52 to $0.7). These are very high due to inflation, but if we go somewhere else, like a big city, the rates can exceed $1.

Maybe it's not that important, but for me it's important because I can find out prices in other countries based on each person's experience where they live. That's interesting and a note for me. I have a prediction that in the next few years there will probably be a food shortage, and if I were still here I would be asking the same thing in the next few years.

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

If you have heard about Indonesia then I come from that country,

Indonesia? It sounds foreign to my ears, maybe I need to open a map to find out where the country is. LOL  

[CarnagexD]

10 USD can probably feed me for about 1 day and then have the leftovers of that day feed me up to lunch but that is if I were to use that 10 USD to buy myself the ingredients for the dish I plan to make since homecook meals are much cheaper and the portions are much bigger than those food that you're ordering on a restaurant. If I look at my local currency though, I can't help but feel dissatisfied because the salary in my country hasn't improved for a long time even though a recent raise in wages were approved, the inflation is evening it out so there's nothing to gain out of it.

[armanda90]

Not all daily day needed I buy on the market and my wife hobbies is cooking to make more efficiency for monthly outcome, I will list my daily day needed regarding with my income stable above $250 in monthly, note I am farmer and not spending money to buy rice because its enough for one year from my farm harvesting.

• Fish and some time I buy shrimp with cost around 3$/Kg
• Electricity one month around $10
• Water spending $4
• Chicken eggs around $3/Kg

but some time have unpredictable outcome and keep that in my list.

[puloweh555]

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground

I think almost all countries are going through recession now. Although the price of food products is high in European countries, there is sufficient income, but in African and Asian countries, the cost of food is much higher than the income for middle and low class families. So I think most of the users of this forum will say almost the same.  Currently, the prices of food products are increasing at a huge rate.  Which is beyond the reach of some

Yes that's right. Every country is experiencing a recession, especially with war in several countries, of course this will have a big impact, with food prices increasing in every country so that whatever salary you receive will not be able to cover your basic needs in a month. So when you receive your salary, you don't have enough savings because at the end of every month you always experience a lack of money.

In my country there is also a very rapid increase, of course because of the recession that continues to hit every country. Luckily, those who live in villages don't need to buy vegetables because they can just pick them in the garden so they can cover whatever their salary is. The average salary in my country is $200 and daily living expenses for food and transportation is $15, of course a salary of $200 is not enough for a month's needs and I am lucky to be able to earn extra income from this forum.

[Rruchi man]

The cost of a standard meal in my country depends on where you are having the meal, which is your location. So I will give cost for comparison under a well packaged restaurant where you can buy and eat your food there, and then a road side food vendor, where you just buy your food and take it home.

I will use our popular menu white rice and Chicken Tomato stew, spaghetti and then Beans, soft drinks which are common meals and drinks in the menu of the well packaged restaurants and the road side vendors.

Well Packaged Restaurant
Cost of a plate of white rice and Chicken Tomato stew - $6.23
Cost of a plate of Spaghetti and a protein of your choice - $6.23
Cost of a plate of Beans - $1.12 per portion, the more portions you need, the more the price.
Cost of soft drink - $1.25

If someone buys food three times daily for 30 days (3 x $6.23 x 30), that is a total of $560.7 which means that you have to be earning way more than the minimum wage to afford three meals a day for thirty days in a well packaged restaurants.

Road side food vendor
Cost of a plate of white rice and Chicken Tomato stew - $1.25
Cost of a plate of Spaghetti and a protein of your choice - $1.25
Cost of a plate of Beans - $0.37 for a small size, price increases if you want more.
Cost of soft drink - $0.31

If someone buys food three times daily for 30 days (3 x $1.25 x 30), that is a total of $112.5, which is above the minimum wage, so someone who earns the minimum wage or less will not be able to afford three meals per day for days, they will have to starve on some days.

Minimum wage as at 1st September 2023 was increased officially from $41.10 to $80.95 on paper, but some people are still receiving the old rates of $41.10 and some even less than that because some employers do not care about minimum wage.