How long do people have to work to afford a Big Mac?
31 May 2016
Big Mac or bust
How much does the average worker earn compared to other countries? Finance company UBS have released their annual Big Mac spending index which calculates how many minutes the average worker would need to work to order to afford a McDonald’s Big Mac burger. According to UBS the burger is available all around the world, and will be the same quality and nature across the 71 countries in the study. So where does your city rank?
9 minutes
With a population of around 7 million people, it takes the average worker in Hong Kong just 9 minutes to earn enough money to purchase a Big Mac, making it the city with the highest purchasing power in the study.
10 minutes
With population of just over 550,000, Luxembourg is one of the smallest and wealthiest places in the study. Here, residents need to work for just 10 minutes before earning themselves a Big Mac. Also in the 10-minute club is Tokyo. Japan’s capital city enjoys strong purchasing power with a population of over 13 million.
11 minutes
Several major US cities proved be to high earners in the study with Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City all requiring their residents to clock in just 11 minutes of work before they could afford to snap up a Big Mac. Also taking just 11 minutes is Sydney (pictured), Australia and Switzerland’s capital city of Zurich.
12 minutes
Residents of London, England (pictured) don’t have to put too much time in at work to be able to afford the popular takeaway food. The population of around 8.6 million only have to work 12 minutes to be able to afford the burger. With a population of nearly two million Austria’s capital city Vienna is in the same boat.
13 minutes
German cities proved strong across the study, with residents in Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin all needing to clock in just 13 minutes of work before being able to indulge in a Big Mac. Also in the 13-minute club is Montreal, the largest city in Quebec, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand (pictured).
15 minutes
Sitting near the top of the list with just 15 minutes of work needed to afford a Big Mac is Ireland’s capital city Dublin with a population of 1.2 million, French capital Paris (pictured) with a population of 2.2 million, and Toronto, the provincial capital of Ontario, Canada with a population of 2.8 million.
16 minutes
In Brussels, where the population sits at 1.2 million, it takes workers just over a quarter of an hours work to be able to purchase the burger. The same goes for Netherlands capital city, Amsterdam (pictured), and Finland capital Helsinki.
17 minutes
With a population of around 800,000, residents of Sweden’s capital city, Stockholm need to work 17 minutes to purchase a Big Mac. The same goes for Johannesburg, South Africa and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (pictured).
18 minutes
Workers in Italian cities Rome (pictured) and Milan need only work 18 minutes before they can grab themselves a burger. As does Qatar’s capital city Doha with a population around 800,000 and South Korea capital Seoul, which has a population of 10 million.
19 minutes
In less than 20 minutes, workers in Olso, Norway (population 658,000) and Madrid, Spain (population 3.2 million) can earn themselves a juicy burger.
20 minutes
Residents of Copenhagen, Denmark (pictured) and Moscow, Russia only need to clock in for 20 minutes before they’ve earned themselves a tasty treat.
21 minutes
For the 1.6 million residents in Barcelona, Spain (pictured) and the 500,000 in Tel Aviv, Israel, working for just 21 minutes will earn them enough money to buy a Big Mac.
25 minutes
In under half an hour the 11 million odd residents of Sao Paolo, Brazil can earn enough money to purchase the burger.
30 minutes
Workers in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic, need half an hour before they can indulge in the fast food treat.
32 minutes
At seven minutes more than neighboring city Sao Paolo, the people of Rio de Janeiro will have to work for 32 minutes before they have earned enough to purchase a Big Mac. Here the population sits at around 6.4 million.
34 minutes
If the 14 million residents of Istanbul, Turkey, want to get their hands on the burger, they’ll need to head to work for 34 minutes.
35 minutes
Workers in China’s financial hub of Shanghai will need to put in 35 minutes of work before they can afford a Big Mac. The population is around 24 million.
36 minutes
With a population of 8 million people, residents of Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok, will have to clock up 36 minutes at work before they can buy the McDonald’s treat.
40 minutes
Home to the Bollywood film industry, Mumbai in India is a densely packed city home to over 22 million people. Workers here will need to work 40 minutes if they want to treat themselves to a burger.
42 minutes
Beijing, the capital city of China, is home to around 22 million people. Here, workers will need to rack up nearly three quarters of an hour of work just to afford one burger.
50 minutes
The 25 million residents of New Delhi, will have to work a whole 10 minutes more than fellow Indian city Mumbai if they want to pick up the popular takeaway.
62 minutes
Egypt’s sprawling capital city of Cairo is home to around 12 million people. Here workers will have to work over an hour just to be able to buy a single burger.
67 minutes
The 10 million people calling Jakarta, Indonesia home, will have to put in some serious time at work if they want to indulge in a Big Mac – 67 minutes to be precise.
78 minutes
The densely populated (it has over 9 million residents) capital of Mexico, Mexico City is towards the bottom of the list when it comes to spending power. Here, workers will need to clock in 78 minutes to afford a Big Mac.
87 minutes
.jpg)
The nearly 2 million residents of Philippines capital city Manila will have to work an incredible 87 minutes before they can afford a Big Mac.
173 minutes
With the lowest purchasing power in the study is Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi. Here, the 3.5 million residents will need to work a whopping 173 minutes – nearly 3 hours – or nineteen times as long as the average worker in Hong Kong - just to buy a Big Mac burger. Now that's one expensive treat.
Comments
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature