Uzbekistan leads in low food costs among 139 nations

At the start of 2025, Uzbekistan ranked 18th globally out of 139 countries regarding food price affordability, according to the Food Price Index published by “Numbeo.” The country’s index value stood at 26.6.

The Food Price Index reflects the relative cost of a basic grocery basket in various countries, benchmarked against prices in New York City, which is set at 100%. A lower index indicates cheaper food prices in a particular country than New York.

For Uzbekistan, the index of 26.6 means that food prices in the country are on average 73.4% lower than those in New York City.

Globally, the list of countries with the lowest food costs includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, and Madagascar. On the other end, the most expensive countries are the Virgin Islands, Switzerland, and Iceland.

Within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Belarus and Ukraine ranked higher than Uzbekistan, indicating that their food prices are even lower. However, neighboring countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Armenia have higher food prices compared to Uzbekistan.

It is also worth mentioning that earlier this year, “Numbeo” released a ranking for the Restaurant Price Index in 2025, where Uzbekistan placed 17th globally among 139 countries. This ranking also highlighted that Uzbekistan has the most affordable restaurant services among CIS countries.