For example, in January 2004, it showed a Tall Latte index with the Big Mac replaced by a cup of Starbucks coffee.

The Economist sometimes produces variants on the theme. As of April 2009, the Big Mac was trading in Germany at €2.99, which translates into US$3.96, which would imply that the euro was trading above the PPP, with the difference being 10.9%. The Eurozone is mixed, as prices differ widely in the EU area. the pound was thus overvalued against the dollar by 28%.this compares with an actual exchange rate of $2.00 to £1 at the time.the implied purchasing power parity was $1.56 to £1, that is $3.57/£2.29 = 1.56.the price of a Big Mac was £2.29 in the United Kingdom (varies by region).the price of a Big Mac was $3.57 in the United States (varies by store).This value is then compared with the actual exchange rate if it is lower, then the first currency is under-valued (according to PPP theory) compared with the second, and conversely, if it is higher, then the first currency is over-valued.įor example, using figures in July 2008:

The Big Mac PPP exchange rate between two countries is obtained by dividing the price of a Big Mac in one country (in its currency) by the price of a Big Mac in another country (in its currency). For these reasons, the index enables a comparison between many countries' currencies. The Big Mac was chosen because it is available to a common specification in many countries around the world as local McDonald's franchisees at least in theory have significant responsibility for negotiating input prices.

In the Big Mac Index, the basket in question is a single Big Mac burger as sold by the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain. One suggested method of predicting exchange rate movements is that, according to the law of one price, the rate between two currencies should naturally adjust so that a sample basket of goods and services should cost the same in both currencies. The index also gave rise to the word burgernomics. The Big Mac index was introduced in The Economist in September 1986 by Pam Woodall as a semi-humorous illustration of PPP and has been published by that paper annually since then.

Big mac index us price history