Cost of Living inIbb, Yemen
Image credit: ai@ce
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Yemen: $433/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 47% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.
Income Category
Happiness
3.6 / 10
#131 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for Yemen; Ibb-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Limited public-school fit
Expat access
Usually not practical for expats
not practicalInstruction
Arabic
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
Yemen's public-school path is not a realistic default for expat families under current conditions.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Even where enrollment is possible, Arabic-medium instruction and ongoing system disruption make the public route usually impractical for expat families.
❓ Homeschooling
Not specifically addressedYemen has compulsory education laws but the ongoing conflict has severely disrupted the education system. No formal homeschooling framework exists. Not a practical destination for worldschooling families.
Homeschool legality in Yemen — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Yemen.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$225-$325
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$350-$550
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Ibb is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Yemen.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
LimitedCoverage looks thinner, doctor staffing is lighter, and hospital capacity looks tighter weigh on this rating.
Public care
LimitedA visible public hospital footprint help, but public coverage looks thinner and public funding looks lighter.
Private care
LimitedThe private footprint is not very visible yet and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
UHC coverage
43/100
2023
Physicians
0.10/1k
2023
Hospital beds
0.46/1k
2023
Out of pocket
69%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
69.4 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
118/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
20.9/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedThere is visible specialty depth help, but the private footprint is still thin and price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce and few facilities expose web pages we can verify weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Yemen yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
2014 annual wages in Ibb, Yemen · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (sector aggregate) (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Ibb compared with the US?
Your money goes about 2.5x further in Ibb than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Yemen here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Ibb cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Ibb is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 47% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Ibb. We are using the country-level cost index for Yemen here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Ibb compare with New York City?
Rent in Ibb is about 94% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Yemen here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Ibb?
Groceries in Ibb are about 35% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 62% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Yemen here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Ibb
Ibb is a governorate capital in southwestern Yemen, sitting at roughly 2,000 meters elevation in the country's central highlands with about 772,000 residents. The cooler, wetter climate compared to coastal Yemen has earned the surrounding region the nickname al-Liwa al-Akhdar (the green province), supporting terraced agriculture including qat, coffee, and grains. Relocators face an active humanitarian and security context shaped by the ongoing conflict, with restricted banking, fuel shortages, and limited foreign access. Arabic is essential. International presence is effectively limited to UN agencies and humanitarian organizations operating with security protocols. Not a viable destination for general relocation; the population scale reflects displacement pressures from harder-hit Yemeni regions.
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