Big Mac index worldwide 2022

At 6.71 U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the July 2022 Big Mac index. Concurrently the cost of a Big Mac was 5.15 dollars in the U.S., and 4.77 U.S. dollars in the Euro area.What is the Big Mac index?The Big Mac index, published The Economist, is a novel way of measuring whether the market exchange rates for different countries’ currencies are overvalued or undervalued. It does this by measuring each currency against a common standard – the Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald’s restaurants all over the world. Twice a year the Economist converts the average national price of a Big Mac into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at that point in time. As a Big Mac is a completely standardized product across the world, the argument goes that it should have the same relative cost in every country. Differences in the cost of a Big Mac expressed as U.S. dollars therefore reflect differences in the purchasing power of each currency. Is the Big Mac index a good measure of purchasing power parity?Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the idea that items should cost the same in different countries, based on the exchange rate at that time. This relationship does not hold in practice. Factors like tax rates, wage regulations, whether components need to be imported, and the level of market competition all contribute to price variations between countries. The Big Mac index does measure this basic point – that one U.S. dollar can buy more in some countries than others. There are more accurate ways to measure differences in PPP though, which convert a larger range of products into their dollar price. Adjusting for PPP can have a massive effect on how we understand a country’s economy. The country with the largest GDP adjusted for PPP is China, but when looking at the unadjusted GDP of different countries the U.S. has the largest economy.

根据2022年7月的《大麦克指数》报告，瑞士的《大麦克》汉堡价格位居全球之首，达到了6.71美元。与此同时，美国地区的《大麦克》价格为5.15美元，而在欧元区则降至4.77美元。何谓《大麦克指数》？（The Big Mac index）由《经济学人》杂志发布，此指数乃一种别开生面的衡量不同国家货币市场汇率是否高估或低估的方法。其通过将各货币与一个共同的标准——遍布全球的麦当劳餐厅销售的《大麦克》汉堡——进行对比来实现。每半年，《经济学人》会利用当时的汇率，将各国《大麦克》的平均价格转换为美元。鉴于《大麦克》作为一种在全球范围内完全标准化的产品，其相对成本在各国应保持一致。因此，以美元计价的《大麦克》价格差异，反映了各货币的购买力差异。那么，《大麦克指数》是否是衡量购买力平价的良好指标？（Purchasing power parity）购买力平价理念认为，基于当时的汇率，物品在不同国家应具有相同的成本。然而，这一关系在现实中并不成立。税率、工资规定、零部件是否需要进口以及市场竞争水平等因素都会导致各国间价格的差异。《大麦克指数》确实测量了这一基本点——即一美元在某些国家能购买到比其他国家更多的商品。尽管如此，还有更为精确的方法来衡量购买力平价差异，这些方法会将更多种类的产品转换为美元价格。调整购买力平价会对我们理解一个国家的经济产生巨大影响。在调整购买力平价后的GDP中，中国的GDP位居全球首位，但若仅从未调整的GDP来看，美国的经济体量则位居世界之冠。