After doing a little research on cheap countries to live in and not being able to find the straightforward answers on the cost of living I was looking for, I decided to scour the web and start crunching numbers myself to put all of the info in one place.
Here is a list of most countries with monthly cost of living for a single ex-pat.
I'm continuing the crunching to include other essential information in a straightforward way - safety, internet strength, air quality, other perks (long term visas, easy citizenship, access to other countries, etc.) and will keep updating the full data in the article I'll dedicate to this here.
Country - Monthly Cost of Living
Bangladesh $699
Tunisia $891
Egypt $925
India $929
Bhutan $935
Bolivia $1,044
Togo $1,088
Bosnia and Herzegovina $1,104
Nicaragua $1,108
Madagascar $1,112
Algeria $1,129
Zambia $1,136
Nigeria $1,155
Paraguay $1,162
Cape Verde $1,173
Tanzania $1,196
Suriname $1,214
Lesotho $1,230
Argentina $1,247
Tajikistan $1,270
Botswana $1,305
Azerbaijan $1,320
Bulgaria $1,320
Morocco $1,323
Colombia $1,329
Kyrgyzstan $1,349
Ecuador $1,371
Malaysia $1,373
Brazil $1,382
Peru $1,386
Sri Lanka $1,401
Romania $1,409
Uzbekistan $1,417
Fiji $1,430
Uganda $1,482
Moldova $1,490
Cambodia $1,510
Kazakhstan $1,562
South Africa $1,578
Honduras $1,586
Nepal $1,586
Jordan $1,595
Turkey $1,600
Belize $1,607
Dominican Republic $1,609
Albania $1,614
Guatemala $1,629
Mongolia $1,645
Vietnam $1,662
Kenya $1,667
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines $1,688
Cameroon $1,715
Indonesia $1,725
Mauritius $1,744
Chile $1,762
Hungary $1,779
Rwanda $1,801
Mexico $1,825
Greece $1,843
Guyana $1,845
Ghana $1,846
Latvia $1,866
Croatia $1,871
Slovakia $1,874
Serbia $1,886
Namibia $1,906
Costa Rica $1,914
Uruguay $1,989
Angola $2,031
Mozambique $2,042
Philippines $2,061
Brunei $2,134
Thailand $2,136
Georgia $2,160
Jamaica $2,165
Estonia $2,186
Laos $2,219
Zimbabwe $2,220
Montenegro $2,234
Armenia $2,273
Spain $2,329
Ivory Coast $2,335
Oman $2,347
Portugal $2,366
Panama $2,375
Lithuania $2,382
Poland $2,403
Ethiopia $2,455
Bahrain $2,521
Slovenia $2,572
Japan $2,611
Grenada $2,623
Aruba $2,627
Cyprus $2,649
San Marino $2,688
Turkmenistan $2,734
Maldives $2,771
France $2,836
New Caledonia $2,851
Czech Republic $2,875
Trinidad and Tobago $2,876
Belgium $2,892
Austria $2,926
Italy $2,929
Senegal $2,993
Sweden $2,995
Malta $3,057
Seychelles $3,058
Finland $3,191
Andorra $3,264
Kuwait $3,271
Germany $3,340
Norway $3,353
Canada $3,390
Bahamas $3,392
Israel $3,472
United Kingdom $3,569
Netherlands $3,570
New Zealand $3,652
Barbados $3,843
Vanuatu $3,865
Australia $3,893
United Arab Emirates $3,900
Denmark $4,131
Iceland $4,267
Luxembourg $4,470
Ireland $4,483
United States $4,596
Qatar $4,686
Cuba $4,876
Gabon $5,085
Papua New Guinea $6,125
Switzerland $6,214
Singapore $6,856
Bermuda $13,183
Monaco $16,314
I make my money as a writer/blogger, so I write and self publish books and my site earns money via ads. I also own a little real estate and have some passive income investments (stocks).
But here's the more useful thing for you - I did some deep research into digital nomads a while ago, and along the way I collected data on professions for those who make a living on the road with what they do. As you'd guess, the software side of tech (web dev, software dev) and marketing (seo, agency work, consulting) jobs dominated the list. I can't remember exactly how much but about 1/3 to 1/2 were tech or marketing.
But the remainder completely ran the spectrum. Doctors, lawyers, multiple architects, virtual game show hosts, university professors, PR, etc. The tying theme was they were all very senior management and specialists and had either virtualized a portion of their work and grew that portion or monetized their knowledge. I remember the architect simply met clients online and delivered the same way. A doctor wrote for medical journals and practiced telemedicine. A lawyer specialized in contract law and was somehow able to do that at a distance. It blew my mind because it seemed like pretty much any profession can be rolled into a virtual approach if you have enough expertise and experience and if you get creative with and focus on the aspects that can be delivered virtually.
I don't have the exact percentages on how much, but I remember a handful of these people actually found their current remote clients through old employers or colleagues, so that is a worthwhile note.
The list of jobs that every reported is here if you're interested:
https://abrotherabroad.com/digital-nomad-jobs/