World's Most Expensive Fast Food

In these 20 cities, hamburger lovers pay most for their fix.

ByABC News
October 24, 2008, 3:33 PM

July 14, 2009— -- Dublin is home to Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse and St. Stephens Green. Here, you'll also find the world's most expensive fast food.

In U.S. dollars, a hamburger meal at a medium-priced establishment, as defined by consulting firm Mercer, costs a whopping $9.16.

That figure -- the only to exceed $8.00 on a list of 20 geographically diverse cities selected for different cost comparisons -- is $3.00 greater than the price of a hamburger meal in New York, where it's $5.99.

But travelers in Europe will not find significant relief in many other cities on the continent, where the price of a fast-food meal hovers around the $7.00 range: In Amsterdam you'll pay $7.88, in Paris $7.43, and in Athens $6.66.

For less pricey eats, grab a hamburger in Prague for $4.91, in Warsaw for $3.86, or in Johannesburg, which sells the cheapest burgers on the list at $2.50.

Click here to learn more about the most expensive cities in which to eat fast food at our partner site, Forbes.com.

In devising a comparative study of the cost of a fast-food hamburger meal across different cities, included in this year's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2009, Mercer analysts collected data from venues most frequented by expatriates in a given city.

Expenses incurred from consuming food outside of the home are assigned a weight of 9.5 percent in the cost of living index.

Conducted twice a year by field researchers who report prices at the relevant retail outlets, Mercer's annual cost of living survey assesses differences in expenses and housing in 143 cities across six continents.

The study compares the costs, in U.S. dollars, of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, household goods, food and clothing. The analysis of this basket of goods and services -- indicative of executive spending patterns -- is designed to yield data that would help multinational companies and governmental organizations determine appropriate compensation allowances for employees sent out of the country.