The Philippines is cheap... but only if your standards are low
What struck me most in the Philippines is how dramatically prices rise as you move up the quality ladder.
At the basic level, the country is definitely cheap. But once an average European middle-class person starts looking for familiar standards, the savings shrink quickly, and sometimes disappear altogether.
Supermarkets are a good example. Basic products that Filipinos commonly eat are cheaper, but given the enormous wage gap, they often aren't as cheap as you'd expect. On the other hand, many items that are completely ordinary in a European supermarket, such as good cuts of meat, decent cheese, dairy products, proper muesli, and protein products, cost the same or much more in the Philippines. The selection is also noticeably worse: the plastic-packaged junk food aisle seems endless, while other categories lack surprising variety. Even basic ingredients like crushed tomatoes can be hard to find.
Restaurants show this even more clearly. Cheap food is everywhere, but the ingredient quality is often very poor: lots of rice, greasy meat, fried food, and very little variety. Once you start looking for good meat, proper fish, quality ingredients, and decent cooking, prices quickly approach or exceed European levels. A decent sushi buffet, steakhouse, or Italian restaurant can cost the same as or more than in Europe, with no guarantee of similar quality.
Gyms are the same. A modern gym with proper equipment, air conditioning, and good machines can cost nearly twice as much as in Europe, despite the huge difference in salaries.
Transportation is interesting too. Yes, Grab is very cheap compared to European taxis, but you lose an absurd amount of time in endless traffic jams. In most parts of Europe, you can walk or use efficient public transport at almost no cost. Time is money too.
I haven't even mentioned public infrastructure, sidewalks, cleanliness, or the everyday conveniences Europeans take for granted.
Housing is probably the biggest real saving, but that advantage shrinks when you look for a spacious, well-maintained apartment in a good neighborhood.
The Philippines seems to have a very low entry price but a steep quality-to-price curve. Relying heavily on cheap local labor is much cheaper, but as soon as you need good ingredients, equipment, or a decent standard of living, most of the advantage disappears.
So I'm curious: why is the Philippines considered such a great value country, especially among American retirees?
Is the difference really that big, or do Americans start from a very different baseline? Maybe in the US, groceries and restaurants of similar quality are much more expensive, and walkable cities, good public transport, and easy access to everyday conveniences aren't as common as they are in Europe.
I'd like to hear whether other Europeans feel the same way, or whether Americans really see it differently.
Let me shorten this for you. In the Philippines, local products are cheap and imported goods are more expensive. Rent is cheap but infrastructure is bad. The end.
