The cheapest countries to live, in A$, for Australians

Which are the cheapest countries to live in?

On our estimates, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam head the list for one person, and Vietnam’s Da Nang heads it for a couple. The table ranks all 31 places on the site by a month for one person, cheapest first.

Each figure is our estimate of a settled month in Australian dollars, rent included and health insurance left out, worked out in October 2026. The last column sets each one against the most the Age Pension pays people living outside Australia. Services Australia calls that the maximum basic rate: A$29,520.40 a year for one person and A$44,506.80 for a couple, from 20 September 2026. That’s about A$2,460 and A$3,710 a month.

Place	City priced	A month for one	A month for two	Against the base rate overseas (A$2,460 one, A$3,710 two)
Cambodia	Siem Reap	A$1,660	A$2,490	One: A$800 left. Two: A$1,220 left
Malaysia	George Town (Penang)	A$1,750	A$2,540	One: A$710 left. Two: A$1,170 left
Penang, Malaysia	George Town (Penang)	A$1,750	A$2,540	One: A$710 left. Two: A$1,170 left
Vietnam	Da Nang	A$1,810	A$2,470	One: A$650 left. Two: A$1,240 left
Da Nang, Vietnam	Da Nang	A$1,810	A$2,470	One: A$650 left. Two: A$1,240 left
Thailand	Chiang Mai	A$1,950	A$2,790	One: A$510 left. Two: A$920 left
Chiang Mai, Thailand	Chiang Mai	A$1,950	A$2,790	One: A$510 left. Two: A$920 left
Mauritius	Port Louis	A$1,960	A$2,800	One: A$500 left. Two: A$910 left
Sri Lanka	Colombo	A$2,040	A$2,810	One: A$420 left. Two: A$900 left
The Philippines	Cebu City	A$2,070	A$2,930	One: A$390 left. Two: A$780 left
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	A$2,290	A$3,190	One: A$170 left. Two: A$520 left
Hua Hin, Thailand	Hua Hin	A$2,310	A$3,280	One: A$150 left. Two: A$430 left
Japan	Kyoto	A$2,560	A$3,760	One: A$100 short. Two: A$50 short
Fiji	Suva	A$2,750	A$3,630	One: A$290 short. Two: A$80 left
Mexico	Guadalajara	A$2,810	A$3,810	One: A$350 short. Two: A$100 short
Bali, Indonesia	Bali (Numbeo’s Bali page)	A$3,060	A$3,970	One: A$600 short. Two: A$260 short
Greece	Athens	A$3,260	A$4,700	One: A$800 short. Two: A$990 short
Portugal	Faro	A$3,420	A$4,570	One: A$960 short. Two: A$860 short
The Algarve, Portugal	Faro	A$3,420	A$4,570	One: A$960 short. Two: A$860 short
Italy	Bari	A$3,500	A$4,900	One: A$1,040 short. Two: A$1,190 short
Spain	Alicante	A$3,570	A$4,860	One: A$1,110 short. Two: A$1,150 short
Costa Rica	San José	A$3,660	A$5,170	One: A$1,200 short. Two: A$1,460 short
Croatia	Split	A$3,750	A$5,180	One: A$1,290 short. Two: A$1,470 short
Cyprus	Paphos	A$3,920	A$5,330	One: A$1,460 short. Two: A$1,620 short
Panama	Panama City	A$4,060	A$5,350	One: A$1,600 short. Two: A$1,640 short
New Zealand	Christchurch	A$4,140	A$5,560	One: A$1,680 short. Two: A$1,850 short
France	Nice	A$4,430	A$6,240	One: A$1,970 short. Two: A$2,530 short
Malta	Sliema	A$5,480	A$7,130	One: A$3,020 short. Two: A$3,420 short
Ireland	Dublin	A$7,180	A$9,080	One: A$4,720 short. Two: A$5,370 short
The United Kingdom	London	A$8,180	A$10,380	One: A$5,720 short. Two: A$6,670 short
The United States	Honolulu	A$8,830	A$11,510	One: A$6,370 short. Two: A$7,800 short

Four country pages use the same city as one of our city pages, so they share its figures: Malaysia (Penang), Vietnam (Da Nang), Thailand (Chiang Mai) and Portugal (the Algarve). “Left” is what remains for health insurance, flights home and everything else. Your own rate depends on the income and assets tests, and for a stay abroad it falls to the base rate after 12 weeks away. Our guide to living overseas on the Age Pension has the full set of rules.

What does “cheap” leave out?

A low monthly figure is only part of the cost of living somewhere. Four things sit outside every number in the table.

Health cover. Medicare doesn’t pay for treatment overseas. Services Australia lists reciprocal health care agreements with 11 countries, and on our list only Ireland, Italy, Malta, New Zealand and the UK are among them. None of the nine cities under the base rate is in one of those countries. Smartraveller says your age and health affect the cost and type of insurance you need, so a quote for international health insurance at your age can change the ranking for you.

Visas with money tests. Staying longer than a visit usually means proving income or savings, and some of the tests are higher than the monthly cost. A few examples, from the countries’ own pages:

• Thailand’s retirement visa asks for 800,000 baht (about A$35,650) in a Thai bank, or income of 65,000 baht a month (about A$2,900). Our Thailand retirement visa guide has the detail.
• Mauritius’s 10-year permit for retired people from 50 asks for US$2,000 a month (about A$2,890) to reach a Mauritian bank. That is more than the base rate for one person.
• Japan’s Long Stay visa asks for savings of more than ¥30 million (about A$275,000).
• Portugal’s D7 visa sets its income test at 920 euros a month for one person in 2026 (about A$1,540).

Our guide to retirement visas by age compares the age limits.

Flights home. Christmas with the family, a funeral or a specialist appointment in Australia all come out of the “left” column. None of them is in our figures.

Safety. Smartraveller’s overall advice for Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Mexico is to exercise a high degree of caution. For Malaysia, Vietnam and Mauritius it is to exercise normal safety precautions (all checked 25 October 2026). Each place page has the detail.

Where is cheapest in Asia?

Asia takes the first 12 rows of the table, apart from Mauritius in eighth place. Siem Reap is the lowest for one person, at about A$1,660 a month, and Da Nang is the lowest for a couple, at about A$2,470.

Our Cambodia figure is converted from Numbeo’s US dollar prices for Siem Reap. Penang and Chiang Mai follow, at about A$1,750 and A$1,950 for one person. Sri Lanka is next, at about A$2,040 for Colombo, but its retiree visa no longer takes new applicants. Kyoto, in Japan, comes in just over the base rate: about A$100 a month short for one person.

Bali is 16th, at about A$3,060 for one person. We used Numbeo’s Bali page, and its one-bedroom rent (about A$1,480) is far above its Denpasar figure (about A$530). That makes our Bali number look high to us.

Where is cheapest in Europe?

Athens is the lowest in Europe for one person, at about A$3,260 a month. For a couple, Faro in the Algarve is lower, at about A$4,570 against Athens’s A$4,700.

Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain come next, all between about A$3,260 and A$3,570 for one person. Every European place on our list costs more than the base rate overseas, for one person and for a couple. Dublin and London are the two dearest places on the list after Honolulu. Of these four, only Italy has a Medicare agreement.

And in the Pacific and the Americas?

Suva, in Fiji, is the lowest here, at about A$2,750 for one person and A$3,630 for a couple. That leaves a couple about A$80 a month under the base rate, the only place in this group that does. Fiji’s residence permit for people on their own income starts at 45. It asks for FJ$100,000 (about A$64,250) sent to Fiji, or a property worth at least that much.

Guadalajara, standing in for Lake Chapala on our Mexico page, is close behind at about A$2,810 for one person. Costa Rica, Panama and New Zealand all cost more than A$3,600 for one person, and Honolulu, at about A$8,830, is the highest figure on the list.

Mauritius, off Africa in the Indian Ocean, fits none of our regions. At about A$1,960 a month for one person in Port Louis, it ranks eighth.

How did we work it out?

Our estimate: Numbeo’s living costs for one person (without rent) plus a one-bedroom city-centre rent, plus 30% for eating out, local trips and extras. For a couple, living costs times 1.8. Converted at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s average exchange rate for the 12 months to September 2026 (A$1 = 22.44 baht, for example). Health insurance is not included.

The average is the mean of 251 daily RBA rates, from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. Each result is rounded to the nearest A$10. The Numbeo pages we used were last updated between 26 September and 20 October 2026.

Some places need a note:

• The RBA publishes no rate for the Cambodian riel, Sri Lankan rupee, Mauritian rupee, Costa Rican colón, Fiji dollar or Mexican peso. For those, and for Panama and the US, we took Numbeo’s US dollar figures and converted them at A$1 = US$0.6919.
• Where Numbeo had too little data for a town, we used the nearest city with a full page: Suva for Nadi, Port Louis for Grand Baie, Guadalajara for Lake Chapala and Colombo for Galle.
• Numbeo is built from what its users report, so treat it as a guide rather than an official price list.
• A short furnished let usually costs more than the long-term rent in our estimate.

Our guide to what retiring overseas really costs works one place through step by step and sets the figures against ASFA’s budgets for retirement in Australia.

Questions people ask

What is the cheapest country to live in?

Of the 31 places we price, Cambodia is the cheapest for one person, at about A$1,660 a month in Siem Reap with rent included. For a couple, Vietnam comes first, at about A$2,470 a month in Da Nang. Both are our estimates from October 2026.

What are the most affordable countries to live in for Australians?

On our figures, nine cities cost one person less than the Age Pension’s base rate overseas of about A$2,460 a month. They are Siem Reap, George Town, Da Nang, Chiang Mai, Port Louis, Colombo, Cebu City, Kuala Lumpur and Hua Hin. Health insurance comes on top.

What is the cheapest country to retire to from Australia?

On cost alone, the same places lead: Cambodia for one person and Vietnam for a couple. Retiring there also means a visa for a long stay, with its own money test, and health insurance at your age. Neither is in our figures.

What is the cheapest European city to live in?

Of the European cities we price, Athens is the cheapest for one person, at about A$3,260 a month. For a couple, Faro in the Algarve is cheaper, at about A$4,570. Every European city on our list costs more than the Age Pension’s base rate overseas.

Can I live overseas on the Age Pension alone?

In nine of our cities, the base rate covers our estimate of a month for one person, with between about A$150 and A$800 left over. That has to pay for health insurance and flights home. Your own rate depends on your income, your assets and your years in Australia.

What are the least expensive countries to live in with a Medicare agreement?

None of the nine cities under the base rate is in a country with a Medicare agreement. Of the places with one, Italy is the cheapest on our list, at about A$3,500 a month for one person in Bari. Our Medicare overseas guide explains what the agreements cover.

Why is Bali not cheaper on your list?

Rent. Numbeo’s Bali page puts a one-bedroom flat in the centre at about A$1,480 a month, against about A$530 on its Denpasar page. We used the Bali page, so our figure of about A$3,060 for one person looks high to us.

What this means for you depends on

• Whether you are on your own or a couple (rent does not halve when you live alone).
• What health insurance costs at your age, and what it covers.
• Whether you can meet the visa’s money test for the length of stay you want.
• How often you fly home, and from how far.
• Your Age Pension rate, which depends on your income, assets and years in Australia.
• The exchange rate: if the Australian dollar weakens, every figure goes up.