Tallinn, Estonia is becoming increasingly expensive to live in, now ranking higher than cities like Dubai, Rome, and Montreal, according to the 2026 Cost of Living index by Numbeo, a crowd-sourced global database.
Tallinn’s Rising Cost of Living
In the 2026 index, the Estonian capital is ranked 182nd out of 479 cities worldwide, with a cost of living index of 64.8. This is an increase from its 138th ranking in 2025, which had an index of 52.7. New York City is used as a baseline with an index of 100.
The index indicates that Dubai, Rome, Montreal, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, Taipei, Prague, Wellington, Budapest, and Istanbul are all more affordable than Tallinn.
Riga, Latvia’s capital, is ranked 244th with a cost of living index of 54.9, while Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, is ranked 260th with an index of 53.
Most and Least Expensive Cities Globally
According to the index, Swiss cities dominate the rankings for highest cost of living. Zürich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, Lugano, and Bern hold the top six positions. New York City is seventh, followed by Reykjavik in eighth, Honolulu in ninth, and San Francisco in tenth.
Conversely, the ten cities with the lowest cost of living are all located in India. Coimbatore is the most affordable city globally, followed by Lucknow, Indore, Surat, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Bhopal, Patna, and Bhubaneswar.
The cost of living index measures the relative prices of consumer goods, including groceries, restaurants, transportation, and utilities, but excludes accommodation costs like rent or mortgages. Rent is tracked in a separate index.
Numbeo is a collaborative online database founded by an ex-Google software engineer, allowing users to share and compare statistical information about countries and cities. It is widely used for comparing the cost of living between different locations.
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