The Mid-2020 Cost of Living Index, produced by crowd-sourced global database Numbeo, ranked the cost of living in Beirut as the 167th highest among 514 cities around the world and the second highest among 25 Arab cities. Also, the cost of living in Beirut was the highest among 101 cities in upper middle-income countries (UMICs) included in the survey. In comparison, Beirut came in 157th place in the mid-2019 survey among 377 cities worldwide. Beirut ranked in the 68th percentile worldwide in the Mid-2020 Index, which means that the cost of living in the city was higher than about 68% of cities in the survey, while the cost of living in Beirut was higher than about 58% of cities worldwide in the mid-2019 survey, which reflects a relative increase in the city's cost of living. The Cost of Living Index is an indicator of the prices of consumer goods, such as groceries, meals & drinks at 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 Turin in Italy, Houston in the United States, and Bonn in Germany; while they are less costly than in Las Vegas and Louisville in the Unites States, and in Edinburgh in Scotland. Beirut received a score of 68.5 points, which means that prices in Beirut are 31.5% lower than those in New York City.

In parallel, the Rent Index ranked Beirut in 206th place globally, in seventh place among Arab cities, and in sixth place among cities in UMICs. Globally, renting an apartment in Beirut is more expensive than in Cardiff in the United Kingdom, Lille in France, and Tampere in Finland; while it is less expensive than in Exeter and Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, and Shenzhen in China. Further, Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Kuwait City and Manama are the only Arab cities that have more expensive rents than Beirut; while Shanghai, Beijing, Moscow, Bangkok, and Shenzen are the only cities among UMICs with more expensive rents. Beirut received a score of 24.4 points on the index, which means that rent in Beirut is 75.6% less expensive than in New York City.

Also, the Groceries Index, which is an estimate of grocery prices in a city compared to New York City, ranked Beirut in 204th place globally, in second place among Arab cities and in fourth place among cities in UMICs. Beirut received a score of 55 points, which means that groceries in Beirut are 45% less expensive than they are in New York City. Finally, the Restaurant Index, which compares the prices of meals and drinks at restaurants and pubs relative to New York City, ranked Beirut in 196th place globally, in third place among Arab cities and in first place among cities in UMICs. The Lebanese capital received a score of 60.73 points on the index, which means that prices at restaurants and pubs in Beirut are 39.3% less expensive than they are in New York City. 
                                                                               
On a country basis, the Index ranked the cost of living in Lebanon as the 34th highest among 135 countries worldwide, the second highest among 41 UMICs, and the third highest among 16 Arab countries behind Qatar and Libya. Lebanon came in 35th place globally on the Rent Index, in 40th place on the Groceries Index, and in 31st place on the Restaurant Index.