BEIRUT: Looking to flex your deep pockets for a hot date? Perhaps impress some swanky onlookers by enjoying an expensive meal? Well, look no further, as McDonald’s Lebanon — the world’s most expensive — is the place to go.
According to a new study by Expensivity, a financial aggregator website, the crisis-ridden, tiny Mediterranean country boasts the most expensive McDonald’s menu — setting consumers back as much as $44.45 for a Big Mac meal with a large fries and a large coke.
Opting to get around the big price tag for a big meal? A kid’s meal — known as a happy meal — goes for $21.89; also the most expensive happy meal in the world.
These exorbitant prices comes as Lebanon experiences an unprecedented economic and financial crisis, with its local currency having lost over 80 percent of its value on the black market, and inflation at an all-time high. Food and medicine shortages in supermarkets and pharmacies have become familiar sights as the country’s latest government attempts to handle the situation.
In an ironic twist, Lebanon was the holder of the world’s cheapest Big Mac in July when it cost just $1.68 for those earning anything but Lebanese pounds, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Now, however, the American fast food chain’s best-seller goes for $21.89. Many, then, will decide to go for the locally-sourced and cheaper shawarma to quell their fast food appetite.
The infographics in this article were originally published by Expensivity.
