Price of a Big Mac

How much does a person have to work for making enough money to buy a hamburger at Mc Donald`s?

It will take a mere 10 minutes` effort in LA, Chicago, and Miami in the U.S. and in Tokyo, Japan, while it takes 185 minutes` work for those who work in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya in Africa.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that it took 37 minutes` work on average for an urban worker to afford a Big Mac, quoting an annual report entitled “Consumer Prices and Income”, which the Swiss investment bank, UBS, conducted on world`s 70 major cities.

In Asia, workers in Tokyo are required to work for the shortest 10 minutes to afford a hamburger, followed by those in Hong Kong for 13 minutes, in Singapore for 21 minutes, and in Seoul for 28 minutes. In the study, Korea ranked the fourth in Asia, and 38th out of 70 countries in terms of price of a Big Mac.

In the meantime, a 62 minute-work in Manila, the Philippines, and a 84 minute-work in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine can buy a hamburger.

In the Pakistani port city of Karachi, a 132 minute-work is required.

The Big Mac Index is calculated by dividing the hourly average wages of 13 different occupations by the universially-equal price of a hamburger (1.98 U.S. Dollars).

Jin Lee leej@donga.com