McDonalds prices around the world

[Mike J]

I was exchanging emails with my brother in the USA last week.  I mentioned that I went to McDonalds for lunch to have some "comfort food".  He told me he and his son had just gone on a road trip, stopped at McDonalds, and how expensive it was.  My quarter  pounder with cheese, fries, and coke was 186 peso, his quarter pounder meal was over $10.  I became curious and did a bit of research.  Wow - what an eye opener that turned out to be.  Check out the table.  Turns out McDonalds Philippines is about the cheapest in the world.  I think this chart is a year or two old as prices are higher now but I think the rankings have not changed much.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_price_rankings?itemId=3

 

Select Region: Africa America Asia Europe Oceania

1.	Israel		16.12 $
2.	Switzerland		15.64 $
3.	Iceland		14.35 $
4.	Norway		12.18 $
5.	Denmark		11.35 $
6.	Uruguay		10.08 $
7.	Netherlands		9.50 $
8.	France		9.50 $
9.	Belgium		9.50 $
10.	Ireland		9.47 $
11.	Canada		9.31 $
12.	Australia		9.03 $
13.	Palestine		8.79 $
14.	New Zealand		8.78 $
15.	Malta		8.63 $
16.	Spain		8.44 $
17.	Italy		8.44 $
18.	Germany		8.44 $
19.	Finland		8.44 $
20.	Austria		8.44 $
21.	Sweden		8.39 $
22.	Venezuela		8.35 $
23.	United States		8.00 $
24.	United Arab Emirates		8.00 $
25.	Lebanon		8.00 $
26.	Puerto Rico		7.50 $
27.	Greece		7.39 $
28.	Cyprus		7.39 $
29.	Russia		7.38 $
30.	United Kingdom		7.36 $
31.	Dominican Republic		7.33 $
32.	Nepal		7.19 $
33.	Qatar		6.87 $
34.	Portugal		6.86 $
35.	Iraq		6.84 $
36.	Czech Republic		6.83 $
37.	Saudi Arabia		6.66 $
38.	Trinidad And Tobago		6.62 $
39.	Bolivia		6.53 $
40.	Kuwait		6.52 $
41.	Costa Rica		6.51 $
42.	Panama		6.50 $
43.	Oman		6.49 $
44.	Estonia		6.47 $
45.	Jordan		6.35 $
46.	Slovenia		6.33 $
47.	Slovakia		6.33 $
48.	Latvia		6.33 $
49.	Croatia		6.31 $
50.	Ghana		6.27 $
51.	El Salvador		6.25 $
52.	Bulgaria		6.14 $
53.	Bahrain		6.10 $
54.	Mexico		6.04 $
55.	Nigeria		6.02 $
56.	Honduras		6.00 $
57.	Ecuador		6.00 $
58.	Jamaica		5.95 $
59.	Kenya		5.94 $
60.	Azerbaijan		5.88 $
61.	Guatemala		5.80 $
62.	Singapore		5.77 $
63.	Brazil		5.72 $
64.	Thailand		5.64 $
65.	Poland		5.63 $
66.	Lithuania		5.54 $
67.	Morocco		5.49 $
68.	Chile		5.45 $
69.	South Korea		5.43 $
70.	Hong Kong		5.41 $
71.	Serbia		5.39 $
72.	Bangladesh		5.38 $
73.	Romania		5.34 $
74.	China		5.23 $
75.	Japan		5.18 $
76.	Colombia		5.13 $
77.	Argentina		5.12 $
78.	Taiwan		5.05 $
79.	Peru		4.81 $
80.	Hungary		4.73 $
81.	Iran		4.72 $
82.	Vietnam		4.67 $
83.	Mauritius		4.45 $
84.	South Africa		4.43 $
85.	Albania		4.42 $
86.	Ukraine		4.40 $
87.	Bosnia And Herzegovina		4.31 $
88.	Kazakhstan		4.28 $
89.	Egypt		4.26 $
90.	Montenegro		4.22 $
91.	Moldova		4.17 $
92.	Belarus		3.99 $
93.	India		3.83 $
94.	Malaysia		3.63 $
95.	Pakistan		3.60 $
96.	Turkey		3.55 $
97.	Indonesia		3.37 $
98.	Sri Lanka		3.33 $
99.	Tunisia		3.23 $
100.	Kosovo (Disputed Territory)		3.17 $
101.	North Macedonia		3.13 $
102.	Algeria		3.09 $
103.	Uzbekistan		3.00 $
104.	Philippines		2.73 $

[Dave Hounddriver]

MacDonalds pays $17 an hour where I live.  I surely expect their burgers will cost more than a place that pays half of that for a full day's wage.

[OnMyWay]

We last went to the U.S. in 2017 and I was blown away by the prices at McD then.  It must be really bad now.

This reminded me of The Big Mac Index.  I think I first ran across this when I was researching moving to the Philippines.  If you look at the table in the link, U.S. the base, is now #3 in the world, which indicates the recent inflation, I think.  Before, there were many countries above it.  The Philippines is far down the list.   This is more about currency valuations, but still interesting.

https://www.economist.com/big-mac-index

The big mac index was invented by The Economist in 1986 as a lighthearted guide to whether currencies are at their “correct” level. It is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), the notion that in the long run exchange rates should move towards the rate that would equalise the prices of an identical basket of goods and services (in this case, a burger) in any two countries.

Burgernomics was never intended as a precise gauge of currency misalignment, merely a tool to make exchange-rate theory more digestible. Yet the Big Mac index has become a global standard, included in several economic textbooks and the subject of dozens of academic studies. For those who take their fast food more seriously, we also calculate a gourmet version of the index.
 

[JJReyes]

My wife and I were shocked when our tour guide in Israel went inside a McDonalds to buy sandwiches.  She asked us in shekels the equivalent of $20 each.  There were four visitors, her husband who drove the van, plus the guide.  I thought the four visitors were paying for six sandwiches because the tradition is the visitors pay for meals for the guides plus they receive a commission from the restaurant (probably no commission since it was a McDonalds).

[gbmmbg]

193P for a Big Mac, medium size fries and coke in car car Cebu today. That's only 3.57 US. Just like a sore d$ck, you can't beet it.

[hk blues]

17 hours ago, gbmmbg said:

193P for a Big Mac, medium size fries and coke in car car Cebu today. That's only 3.57 US. Just like a sore d$ck, you can't beet it.

From one perspective it's cheap as chips (pun intended) but if you consider many locals would have to work 2 hours or so to buy it it puts things into perspective.  How many of us would think $30 was cheap?

[Ziggy]

On 6/28/2022 at 12:14 AM, hk blues said:

From one perspective it's cheap as chips (pun intended) but if you consider many locals would have to work 2 hours or so to buy it it puts things into perspective.  How many of us would think $30 was cheap?

Based on this analogy, I always wondered how so many locals can afford to eat at McD’s, BK, KFC, Jollibee’s or any similar place in the Phil’s.  

Are they OFW’s, being supported by an OFW in the family, or are they saving up money for weeks (or months) at a time for the rare visit to one of these eateries 

[JJReyes]

9 hours ago, Lieutenant Dan said:

Based on this analogy, I always wondered how so many locals can afford to eat at McD’s, BK, KFC, Jollibee’s or any similar place in the Phil’s.  

Are they OFW’s, being supported by an OFW in the family, or are they saving up money for weeks (or months) at a time for the rare visit to one of these eateries 

McDonalds caters to a very specific demographic profile.  It's relative a young crowd below the age of 25 years.  Because the price is high compared to salaries and allowances (students), it is considered as a special treat.  In the Philippines, a visit to McDonalds is a status statement rather than going to a restaurant offering cheap meals.  Those in the lower income brackets won't go to a Western franchise establishment.  To answer Lieutenant Dan, many locals can afford to eat as a special treat like a birthday, but not as a regular occurrence.

[Ziggy]

23 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

To answer Lieutenant Dan, many locals can afford to eat as a special treat like a birthday, but not as a regular occurrence.

Good point!… but when I lived in the Philippines, I also thought that it may also be a status symbol, as in ‘Look at me. I’m so rich that I can afford to eat at McDonald’s (and/or other like eateries).’

Edited July 3, 2022 by Lieutenant Dan

[Mike J]

On 7/3/2022 at 8:07 PM, Lieutenant Dan said:

Based on this analogy, I always wondered how so many locals can afford to eat at McD’s, BK, KFC, Jollibee’s or any similar place in the Phil’s.  

Are they OFW’s, being supported by an OFW in the family, or are they saving up money for weeks (or months) at a time for the rare visit to one of these eateries 

I have kind of wondered about that myself as we live in the province and wages here are low even by Philippine standards.  I am always surprised that, given the local wages, the McDonalds here is almost always crowded.  It is a mixed crowd of couples, families, extended families, birthdays, etc.  I suspect that those who can afford McDonalds are better paid such teachers, police, government employees, etc. or as @Lieutenant Dan suggested maybe receiving funds from abroad.   I also notice that the Philippine choice of meals is usually spaghetti or chicken (both with rice).  This may be due to personal tastes preference but they also happen to be the less expensive items on the menu.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Mike J