Bitcoin and the Big Mac Index

The Economist magazine famously started publishing the “Big Mac Index” in 1986, in order to judge the real purchasing power of a currency, without the distortions created by the speculators on the foreign exchanges. The reason they chose a Big Mac to anchor their index was simple: Big Macs are sold in most countries in the world, and more importantly they are made to the exact same standard and taste the same no matter where you buy one. Given that the product is the exact same everywhere, the price when converted into dollars at the prevailing exchange rate should be the same: so differences show where a currency is over-valued or under-valued by the foreign exchange markets. This page also converts the cost of Big Macs into Bitcoins.

Jan 2012

Here's the graphic showing the Big Mac Index, as at Jan 2012: Bitcoin's price on January 1st 2012 was $7 This made the Big Mac worth the following prices in BTC as at Jan 2012: Switzerland 0.97286085 BTC Norway 0.96999999 BTC Sweden 0.84428570 BTC Brazil 0.81142855 BTC Denmark 0.76714285 BTC Australia 0.70571428 BTC Argentina 0.66285713 BTC Canada 0.66142856 BTC Uruguay 0.66142856 BTC Columbia 0.64857141 BTC Euro Area 0.64571427 BTC United States 0.59999999 BTC Japan 0.59428571 BTC Israel 0.31769230 BTC Chile 0.58999998 BTC New Zealand 0.57857142 BTC Costa Rica 0.57428569 BTC Britain 0.54571427 BTC Singapore 0.53571427 BTC Peru 0.52999999 BTC Turkey 0.50571428 BTC Czech Republic 0.49285713 BTC UAE 0.46714285 BTC South Korea 0.45571427 BTC Latvia 0.44142855 BTC Pakistan 0.41285713 BTC Lithuania 0.40999999 BTC Mexico 0.38571427 BTC Philippines 0.38285713 BTC Saudi Arabia 0.38142856 BTC Hungary 0.37571467 BTC Poland 0.36857141 BTC Egypt 0.36714284 BTC Russia 0.36428570 BTC Sri Lanka 0.36428570 BTC Taiwan 0.35714285 BTC Indonesia 0.35142855 BTC Thailand 0.35142855 BTC South Africa 0.34999998 BTC China 0.34857141 BTC Malaysia 0.33428571 BTC Hong Kong 0.30285713 BTC Ukraine 0.30142856 BTC India 0.23142856 BTC

Jan 2013

In Jan 2013, Bitcoin was worth $13 Here are the values of a Big Mac in both dollars and Bitcoins as at Jan 2013: Argentina $3.82 0.29368803 BTC Australia $4.90 0.37695808 BTC Brazil $5.64 0.43413581 BTC Britain $4.25 0.32678327 BTC Canada $5.39 0.41495049 BTC Chile $4.35 0.33427092 BTC China $2.57 0.19786014 BTC Colombia $4.85 0.37308132 BTC Costa Rica $4.39 0.33790062 BTC Czech Republic $3.72 0.28631989 BTC Denmark $5.18 0.39875002 BTC Egypt $2.39 0.18408843 BTC Euro area $4.88 0.37523316 BTC Hong Kong $2.19 0.16853660 BTC Hungary $3.82 0.29358691 BTC India $1.67 0.12821713 BTC Indonesia $2.86 0.22003111 BTC Israel $4.00 0.30772948 BTC Japan $3.51 0.27030566 BTC Latvia $3.28 0.25230471 BTC Lithuania $3.07 0.23580271 BTC Malaysia $2.58 0.19835824 BTC Mexico $2.90 0.22343103 BTC New Zealand $4.32 0.33266000 BTC Norway $7.84 0.60325223 BTC Pakistan $2.97 0.22841030 BTC Peru $3.91 0.30053947 BTC Philippines $2.91 0.22356953 BTC Poland $2.94 0.22639069 BTC Russia $2.43 0.18659191 BTC Saudi Arabia $2.93 0.22562899 BTC Singapore $3.64 0.28032056 BTC South Africa $2.03 0.15585277 BTC South Korea $3.41 0.26220354 BTC Sri Lanka $2.77 0.21291480 BTC Sweden $7.62 0.58638520 BTC Switzerland $7.12 0.54806533 BTC Taiwan $2.54 0.19555389 BTC Thailand $2.92 0.22491372 BTC Turkey $4.78 0.36749117 BTC UAE $3.27 0.25131074 BTC Ukraine $2.33 0.17946199 BTC United States $4.37 0.33595353 BTC Uruguay $5.45 0.41892755 BTC Venezuela $9.08 0.69854354 BTC Austria $4.60 0.35385081 BTC Belgium $5.16 0.39664692 BTC Estonia $3.66 0.28182808 BTC Finland $5.09 0.39142788 BTC France $4.89 0.37577077 BTC Germany $4.94 0.37994600 BTC Greece $4.48 0.34445654 BTC Ireland $4.74 0.36428888 BTC Italy $5.22 0.40186596 BTC Netherlands $4.68 0.36011365 BTC Portugal $4.00 0.30792327 BTC Spain $4.75 0.36533269 BTC

Conclusion