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Since its creation in 1967, the Big Mac has been conceived as McDonald’s great symbol. The chain’s legendary hamburger even has a museum that worships it from Pennsylvania, although perhaps what many people do not know is that it is also used as an indicator of the global economy.
In 1986, the “Big Mac Index” was unveiled to show whether currencies are at the “right” level based on the price of the hamburger. From these results, differences in consumer purchasing power can be demonstrated; as well as regulating or checking the level of international currencies compared to that of the United States.
It is a method of simplifying the complex global economy with a rough snapshot of whether a currency is undervalued or overvalued. The Big Mac Index measures the value of the currency by comparing the price of the burger around the world, an ironic idea from The Economist that has been updated twice a year since 1986 to provide a glimpse into the economic reality of the moment.
This gauge is based on the theory of purchasing power parity with a standardised product around the world that “should cost the same everywhere”, with ingredients such as meat, wheat, onions or tomatoes reflecting an approximation of its value in any given country.
The Big Mac Index of 2025
According to the results of the World Population Review, in the United States, the average cost of a Big Mac is around $5.15, taking into account the results of the Big Mac Index. This implies that we should be able to convert that amount of cash into a new currency and still buy that same Big Mac, assuming the two nations have purchasing power parity. However, in this year’s Big Mac Index, a hamburger in Switzerland costs about $6.71, 30.33% more than in the US, which is attributed to factors such as higher labour costs, lower purchasing power and taxes. Norway, Uruguay, Sweden and Canada follow with varying degrees of price differences.
In contrast, countries such as Lebanon, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have slightly lower Big Mac prices than the US, with Lebanon selling the snack for $5.08. A significant group of European countries, including Andorra, Austria, Belgium and several others, have a difference in the Big Mac Index of around -7.47%.
