Abu Dhabi - Mubasher: The Big Mac Index revealed the fair price of Arab and international currencies at the beginning of this year, 2025 .

According to the January 2025 edition of the Big Mac Index published by the British newspaper The Economist, the UAE dirham is undervalued against the US dollar by 15.4 percent.

He explained that the price of a Big Mac meal is 18 dirhams in the UAE and 5.79 US dollars in the United States, so the fair exchange rate is 3.11 dirhams to the dollar.

The difference between this rate and the actual exchange rate, 3.67, indicates that the UAE dirham is undervalued against the dollar by 15.4 percent.

The index showed that the UAE dirham is undervalued against the British pound by 14.4 percent, and the price of a sandwich in Britain is 4.59 pounds, so the fair exchange rate is 3.92 dirhams to the British pound, compared to 4.58 dirhams .

The index showed that the dirham is undervalued by 17.7 percent against the euro, with the price of a sandwich at 5.67 euros. Therefore, the fair price is 3.17 dirhams to the euro, compared to approximately 3.86 dirhams in the markets .

As for the Chinese yuan, the dirham is overvalued by 39.3 percent, and the price of a Big Mac is 25.50 yuan, so the fair price is 0.71 dirhams per yuan, compared to 0.51 dirhams .
Against the Japanese yen, the dirham is overvalued by 57.6 percent, and a Big Mac costs 480 yen, making the fair price 4 dirhams per 100 yen, compared to 2.37 dirhams in reality .

The UAE ranked 17th globally in the Big Mac Index, with Switzerland coming in first, where a Big Mac sandwich costs 7.20 Swiss francs.

According to the index, the fair value of the Saudi riyal against the dollar is 12.5 percent less than its current value, as the price of a Big Mac is 19 riyals, and thus the fair price is 3.28 riyals, compared to 3.75 riyals for the dollar .

As for the Kuwaiti dinar, the fair value is 21.5 percent less than its current value, as the price of a Big Mac there is 1.40 dinars, so the fair price is 0.24 dinars per dollar, compared to 0.31 dinars in the market .

The index revealed that the Bahraini dinar is undervalued by 22.1 percent, as the price of a sandwich is 1.70 dinars, so the fair price is 0.29 dinars to the dollar, compared to 0.38 dinars .

In Qatar, a Big Mac costs 15 riyals, and the fair price is 2.59 riyals to the dollar instead of the actual 3.64 riyals, making the riyal undervalued by 28.8 percent.

In Oman, the price of a Big Mac sandwich is 1.53 riyals, so the fair price is 0.26 riyals to the dollar instead of the actual 0.39, and thus the riyal is undervalued by 31.4 percent.

The index showed that the Jordanian dinar is undervalued against the dollar by 39.1 percent, and the price of a Big Mac sandwich in Jordan is 2.50 dinars and 5.69 dollars in the United States.

Thus, the fair price is 0.43 dinars per dollar, compared to the current exchange rate of 0.71 dinars per dollar .

He said the Egyptian pound is undervalued by 53.6 percent against the US dollar, and a Big Mac costs 135 Egyptian pounds and $5.79 in the United States.

Thus, the fair exchange rate is 23.32 pounds to the dollar, compared to the current exchange rate of 50.25 pounds .

The index showed that the Lebanese pound is undervalued against the US dollar by 7.4 percent, and the cost of a Big Mac sandwich in Lebanon is 480,000 Lebanese pounds, and 5.79 US dollars in the United States.

Thus, the fair price is 82901.55 Lebanese pounds per dollar, compared to the current exchange rate of 89550 Lebanese pounds per dollar .

The idea of the index is based on considering the price of a Big Mac sandwich as a unified measure of the fair value of currencies globally, as the index assumes that the price of the sandwich should be the same in all countries of the world, and the difference in prices reflects, according to The Economist, an imbalance in the evaluation of currencies .