Daily cost ranking

Backpacker Cost Index

The pure cost ranking — every country by backpacker daily burn (dorm beds, street food, local transport, budget activities). No quality adjustments, just how cheap a day costs.

India is the cheapest country to backpack at $26/day.

Top 10 by daily cost

Shareable snapshot — India leads.

112 countries · ranked by daily cost

#	Country	Daily cost	$1K runway	Region
1	India	$26	38 days	South Asia
2	Laos	$29	34 days	Southeast Asia
3	Nepal	$30	33 days	South Asia
4	Sri Lanka	$30	33 days	South Asia
5	Pakistan	$31	32 days	South Asia
6	Bangladesh	$32	32 days	South Asia
7	Bolivia	$33	30 days	Latin America
8	Cambodia	$34	30 days	Southeast Asia
9	Vietnam	$34	29 days	Southeast Asia
10	Indonesia	$34	29 days	Southeast Asia
11	Iran	$35	29 days	Africa / Middle East
12	Ecuador	$37	27 days	Latin America
13	Myanmar	$38	27 days	South Asia
14	Mongolia	$39	26 days	East Asia
15	Malaysia	$39	25 days	Southeast Asia
16	Philippines	$40	25 days	Southeast Asia
17	Ethiopia	$40	25 days	Africa / Middle East
18	Egypt	$41	24 days	Africa / Middle East
19	Georgia	$42	24 days	Europe
20	Morocco	$42	24 days	Africa / Middle East
21	Colombia	$42	24 days	Latin America
22	Guatemala	$43	23 days	Latin America
23	Paraguay	$43	23 days	Latin America
24	Peru	$43	23 days	Latin America
25	Thailand	$44	23 days	Southeast Asia
26	Nicaragua	$45	22 days	Latin America
27	Kyrgyzstan	$46	22 days	Africa / Middle East
28	Uzbekistan	$46	22 days	Africa / Middle East
29	Ghana	$46	22 days	Africa / Middle East
30	Tanzania	$47	21 days	Africa / Middle East
31	Bosnia and Herzegovina	$47	21 days	Europe
32	Honduras	$47	21 days	Latin America
33	Senegal	$47	21 days	Africa / Middle East
34	El Salvador	$47	21 days	Latin America
35	Mozambique	$48	21 days	Africa / Middle East
36	North Macedonia	$49	20 days	Europe
37	Tajikistan	$49	20 days	Africa / Middle East
38	Kazakhstan	$49	20 days	Africa / Middle East
39	Azerbaijan	$50	20 days	Africa / Middle East
40	Armenia	$50	20 days	Africa / Middle East
41	Bulgaria	$50	20 days	Europe
42	Zambia	$50	20 days	Africa / Middle East
43	Rwanda	$51	20 days	Africa / Middle East
44	Turkey	$51	20 days	Europe
45	Dominican Republic	$52	19 days	Latin America
46	Uganda	$53	19 days	Africa / Middle East
47	Kenya	$53	19 days	Africa / Middle East
48	Mexico	$53	19 days	Latin America
49	Albania	$54	19 days	Europe
50	China	$54	19 days	East Asia
51	Lebanon	$54	18 days	Africa / Middle East
52	Cuba	$55	18 days	Latin America
53	Taiwan	$56	18 days	East Asia
54	Serbia	$56	18 days	Europe
55	Brazil	$56	18 days	Latin America
56	Argentina	$58	17 days	Latin America
57	Zimbabwe	$59	17 days	Africa / Middle East
58	Madagascar	$59	17 days	Africa / Middle East
59	Latvia	$61	16 days	Europe
60	Jordan	$61	16 days	Africa / Middle East
61	Romania	$63	16 days	Europe
62	Panama	$64	16 days	Latin America
63	Namibia	$64	16 days	Africa / Middle East
64	Botswana	$65	15 days	Africa / Middle East
65	Vanuatu	$66	15 days	Oceania
66	South Africa	$66	15 days	Africa / Middle East
67	Poland	$68	15 days	Europe
68	Montenegro	$68	15 days	Europe
69	Lithuania	$69	14 days	Europe
70	South Korea	$70	14 days	East Asia
71	Czech Republic	$71	14 days	Europe
72	Samoa	$72	14 days	Oceania
73	Hungary	$72	14 days	Europe
74	Uruguay	$72	14 days	Latin America
75	Chile	$73	14 days	Latin America
76	Costa Rica	$74	14 days	Latin America
77	Fiji	$75	13 days	Oceania
78	Macau	$81	12 days	East Asia
79	Oman	$83	12 days	Africa / Middle East
80	Estonia	$83	12 days	Europe
81	Cyprus	$84	12 days	Europe
82	Slovakia	$85	12 days	Europe
83	Belize	$85	12 days	Latin America
84	Malta	$85	12 days	Europe
85	Spain	$93	11 days	Europe
86	Slovenia	$94	11 days	Europe
87	Bhutan	$94	11 days	South Asia
88	Portugal	$94	11 days	Europe
89	Japan	$94	11 days	East Asia
90	United Kingdom	$95	10 days	Europe
91	Greece	$100	10 days	Europe
92	United Arab Emirates	$100	10 days	Africa / Middle East
93	Maldives	$101	10 days	South Asia
94	Germany	$102	10 days	Europe
95	Hong Kong	$103	10 days	East Asia
96	Austria	$104	10 days	Europe
97	Qatar	$105	10 days	Africa / Middle East
98	Belgium	$106	9 days	Europe
99	New Zealand	$110	9 days	Oceania
100	Israel	$111	9 days	Africa / Middle East
101	Croatia	$113	9 days	Europe
102	Netherlands	$113	9 days	Europe
103	France	$114	9 days	Europe
104	Italy	$118	8 days	Europe
105	Sweden	$119	8 days	Europe
106	Finland	$123	8 days	Europe
107	Australia	$125	8 days	Oceania
108	Denmark	$136	7 days	Europe
109	Norway	$151	7 days	Europe
110	Ireland	$163	6 days	Europe
111	Iceland	$173	6 days	Europe
112	Switzerland	$178	6 days	Europe

Methodology

Daily burn is the per-person on-ground cost at backpacker style (style 2): dorm accommodation, three budget meals, local transport, a share of intercity moves, budget activities, mobile data, and misc. FX and seasonal multipliers apply where available. Flights, visas, insurance, and reserve are excluded.

Full methodology

Press & citation

The cheapest country to backpack is India, where a day costs about $26 and $1,000 lasts roughly 38 days.

Countries ranked

112

#1 destination

India

Updated

October 12, 2026