The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

When Egypt accomplishes a particular ranking on a global level, even though it is in the lowest percentile in this case, it is still something that must be announced and respected. Just a few hours ago, we came across an interesting piece of information that Enterprise shared: Egypt is now ranked 49th out of 55 countries in Deutsche Bank’s living standards index. Why is this a big deal? Because this is our country’s first time to land a spot on the index! 

First of all, what is Deutsche Bank, and what in the world is a living standards index? Deutsche Bank AG is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. As for the living standards index, let’s start by defining the term. An index is a sign or measure of something. A clear example that Google uses is exam results, which may serve as an index of a teacher’s effectiveness. In our case today, the index gives you a measure of the global prices and living standards in each country.

How is the living standards index calculated? Well, it combines different smaller sub-indices, where each one measures a factor that affects the overall quality of life in a given location. Examples of such sub-indices include purchasing power, crime and safety, healthcare quality and availability, cost of living, traffic congestion, pollution, and the affordability of housing relative to average income. Let’s take a look at the results of each of the factors.

For traffic and safety, Egypt is ranked 44th and 39th, respectively. For income and expenses, Enterprise states that the average monthly salary in Egypt has grown 16% to USD 206, which is around 4% of the average in New York City. Overall, we have the lowest average monthly income in the index. Unfortunately, regarding purchasing power, healthcare, and pollution, Egypt falls to the bottom of the list. 

The piece concluded with a paragraph comparing prices in Cairo to New York. Unsurprisingly, gas prices, taxi tariffs, cinema tickets, monthly gym memberships, men’s haircuts, public transportation, and rent are much lower here than over in the Big Apple. On the other hand, New York has the edge when it comes to clothing at foreign outlets, weekend getaways, and of course, the iPhone X.

Hopefully, in a couple of years, our ranking will be much higher in Deutsche Bank’s Living Standards Index!