The Mid-2018 Cost of Living Index, produced by crowd-sourced global database Numbeo, ranked the cost of living in Beirut as the 275th highest among 538 cities around the world and the third highest among 20 Arab cities and among 111 cities in upper middle-income countries (UMICs). Based on the same set of cities included in the mid-2017 and mid-2018 surveys, Beirut's rank changed from 248th place in the mid-2017 survey to 241st place in the mid-2018 survey, reflecting a relative increase in the cost of living. The Cost of Living Index is a relative indicator of consumer goods prices, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities. Numbeo benchmarks the Index against New York City. It also issues a Rent Index, which is an estimation of apartment rents in a city compared to New York City rents. Numbeo relies on residents' inputs and uses data from official sources to compute the indices.  

According to the Cost of Living Index, consumer goods in Beirut are more expensive than in Hamilton in Canada, Springfield in the U.S. State of Missouri, and Vancouver in the state of Washington in the U.S., while they are less costly than in Moncton in Canada, Nicosia in Cyprus, and Knoxville in the U.S. Hamilton in Bermuda ranked as the most expensive city in the world, while Thiruvananthapuram in India came as the least expensive city globally. Beirut received a score of 60.79 points, which means that prices in Beirut are 39.21% lower than those in New York City.

In parallel, the Rent Index ranked Beirut in 145th place globally, in fourth place among Arab cities, and in second place to Shanghai among cities in UMICs. Globally, renting an apartment in Beirut is more expensive than in Maastricht in the Netherlands, Brussels, and Adelaide in Australia; while it is less expensive than in Vienna, Barcelona, and Burlington in Canada. Further, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai are the only Arab cities that have more expensive rents than Beirut. Lebanon received a score of 32.3 points on the index, which means that rent in Lebanon is 67.7% less expensive than in New York City. San Francisco has the highest apartment rents in the world, while rent in Bhopal in India is the lowest globally.

Swiss Re's annual survey of the global insurance market indicated that Lebanon ranked in 60th place among the largest 88 markets in terms of premiums generated in 2017 and came in fourth place among 11 Arab markets included in the survey. Lebanon ranked in 61st place globally and in fifth place among Arab countries in 2016. Lebanon generated $1.63bn in total premiums in 2017, constituting a rise of 4% in nominal terms and a decline of 0.5% in real terms from the preceding year. Total premiums generated in Lebanon last year accounted for 0.03% of global premiums, for 0.3% of premiums generated in emerging markets excluding China, and for 2.7% of premiums generated in the Middle East & Central Asia region. 

Globally, insurance premiums generated in Lebanon were similar to those produced in Ukraine, and higher than premiums generated in Egypt ($1.59bn) and Uruguay ($1.58bn); while they were lower than those generated in Ecuador ($2.05bn), Kenya ($2bn) and Venezuela ($1.71bn). Also, aggregate premiums in the Lebanese insurance market were higher than those generated in Egypt, Algeria ($1.22bn), Oman ($1.21bn), Jordan ($854m), Kuwait ($821m), Tunisia ($814m) and Bahrain ($762m) among Arab countries.

Lebanon generated $1.13bn in non-life premiums last year, ranking it in 61st place among the 88 markets and in fourth place among Arab countries. In comparison, Lebanon ranked in 62nd place globally and in sixth place regionally in terms of non-life premiums in 2016. Non-life premiums produced in Lebanon rose by 3.8% in nominal terms, while they declined by 0.7% in real terms in 2017. Further, Lebanon generated $505m in life premiums in 2017, ranking it in 63rd place globally and in fourth place in the Arab world. It came in 62nd place worldwide and in fourth place regionally in 2016. Life premiums generated in the Lebanese market grew by 4.5% in nominal terms, while they posted flat growth in real terms last year. 

In parallel, Swiss Re estimated Lebanon's insurance density, or premiums per capita, at $276 in 2017 relative to $268.6 in 2016, which ranks the local market in 54th place globally and in fourth place in the Arab world. Lebanon had a higher insurance density than Costa Rica ($272), Oman ($265) and Jamaica ($253), and a lower density than Hungary ($348), Croatia ($333) and Saudi Arabia ($296). The survey estimated Lebanon's non-life density at $191 and life density at $85 in 2017. 

Also, the survey estimated the insurance penetration rate in Lebanon, or premiums relative to the size of the economy, at 3.15% of GDP in 2017 relative to 3.32% of GDP in 2016, ranking it in 44th place among the 88 covered markets and in third place in the Arab world. Lebanon had a higher insurance penetration rate than Poland (3.04% of GDP), Colombia (2.88% of GDP) and the Czech Republic (2.85% of GDP), and a lower rate than India (3.69% of GDP), the UAE (3.65% of GDP) and Morocco (3.49%). Lebanon posted penetration rates of 0.97% of GDP and 2.18% of GDP in the life and non-life categories, respectively, in 2017.

Figures issued by the World Bank show that the cost of sending $500 in remittances from the United States to Lebanon reached 5.77% in the second quarter of 2018 relative to 5.96% in the first quarter of 2018 and to 5.99% in the second quarter of 2017. The cost includes the transaction fee and exchange rate margin, and represents the average cost of transferring money through commercial banks and money transfer operators (MTOs). In nominal terms, the cost of sending $500 from the U.S. to Lebanon was $28.87 in the second quarter of 2018 compared to $29.82 in the preceding quarter and to $29.97 in the second quarter of 2017. Lebanon is the sixth most expensive destination for sending $500 from the U.S. among 42 countries with available data.

Further, the cost of sending remittances from Canada to Lebanon was 7.5% in the second quarter of 2018 for a transfer of CAD500, up from 6.86% in the first quarter of 2018 and relative to 6.47% in the second quarter of 2017. In nominal terms, the cost of sending CAD500 from Canada to Lebanon was CAD37.52 in the second quarter of 2018 relative to CAD34.32 in the previous quarter and to CAD32.36 in the second quarter of 2017. Lebanon is the second most expensive destination for sending CAD500 from Canada among 15 countries with available data.

Also, the cost of sending remittances from Australia to Lebanon reached 7.07% in the second quarter of 2018 for a transfer of AUD500, down from 7.14% in the first quarter of 2018 and relative to 7.41% in the second quarter of 2017. The cost of sending AUD500 from Australia to Lebanon was AUD35.34 in the second quarter of 2018 relative to AUD35.7 in the preceding quarter and to AUD37.07 in the second quarter of 2017. Lebanon is the third most expensive destination for sending AUD500 from Australia among 16 countries with available data.