Working time required to buy a Big Mac in cities worldwide 2018

This statistic shows the average working time required to buy one Big Mac in selected cities around the world in 2018. In Nairobi, the average worker had to work for about 133.8 minutes to be able to purchase a Big Mac.

The average wages garnered in select countries around the world based on purchasing power can be accessed here.

Additional information on the Big Mac Index

The Big Mac index is a tongue-in-cheek measure of purchasing power parity (PPP) created by The Economist. The index gained global attention among economists and other analysts of global economic conditions due to its relative degree of accuracy in predicting purchasing power parity among countries. In attempting to include wage differentials rankings that seek to measure how fast one can earn the money required to purchase a Big Mac incorporate average wages. In theory, the result should correlate to the ranking of average world wages adjusted for PPP.

The Big Mac index is open to criticism as it is unable to take certain factors that may result in the price of a Big Mac fluctuating between countries. For example, the hospitality industry, including McDonalds, tends to employ large numbers of people on or close to the minimum wage. This is shown by the percentage of workers paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the minimum wage in the U.S., by industry. As a result differing levels of the minimum wage may lead McDonalds to charge a comparably higher amount for a Big Mac in that country.