The Daily Update: Tall Latte Index

The year A Clockwork Orange was released, the first Starbucks coffee shop opened in Seattle. From those humble beginnings, Starbucks has grown to be the largest coffee chain on the planet, with more than 32,000 shops in 80 countries, second only to Ronald McDonald's outfit. However, like the price of a Big Mac, the price of a cup of coffee and its relative affordability varies massively around the world. 

So, most will not be surprised to find the most expensive coffee in the “Tall Latte Index” can be found in Switzerland, yours for the princely sum of $7.17, followed by Denmark at $6.55 and Finland, $5.67. All local prices have been converted to USD for ease. In France, the cost is $5.36 and here in the UK it's $5.31. At the other end of the scale, the same latte can be bought for just $1.31 in Turkey, with Brazil the second cheapest at $1.96 and Aruba making up the bottom 3 at $2.22. Starbucks’ birth country charges $3.26 for the 12oz beverage. 

However, just converting the cost of a latte to USD does not give you the whole picture. When taking purchasing power into account, affordability really becomes startling. In reverse order, the least affordable places in the world to buy a latte as a percentage of median daily income are Jordan at 31.2%, Indonesia 34.3%, the Philippines 34.3%, Azerbaijan 35.5%, Morocco 36.6%, Bolivia 39%, and El Salvador at 45.7%. Then, in third place, we have Vietnam, where it costs 57.7% of the daily income to buy a 12oz tall latte. The runner up is India, coming in at 71.3%. 

Top of the list is Cambodia, where it costs a whopping 86.1% of your daily wage for a coffee. How many do you think they sell? Answers on a postcard. 

Of course, the higher income countries fare much better in the affordability stakes. Singapore is the 10th most affordable, with Australia, Belgium, and Qatar also in the top ten. The top three are made up of Austria at 3.1%, with Norway the same, and the US leading the way at just 2.1% of daily income. 

However, if you are like us on the Fixed Income desk, and not a coffee aficionado, instant coffee from the kitchen, with sugar and a dash of milk, is all you need.

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