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Alternate life simulator

What if you were born somewhere else?

Japan, Norway, Canada, Switzerland… Tell us a little about your life and meet the other you: the income, the home, the commute and a typical day.

Photos: Japan (Seattleite7, CC BY-SA 4.0) · Norway (Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 3.0) · Canada (Tobias Alt, Tobi 87, CC BY-SA 4.0) · Switzerland (Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0)

About you, here

Nothing you enter leaves your device: everything is worked out in your browser.

Born in…

How it works

  1. Your place on the ladder. We compare your income with what an average person spends a month where you live (Pakistan, or any of the other countries), adjusted for the size of your household.
  2. The same rung, elsewhere. Your other self sits at the same relative level in the other country, using World Bank spending and price data and today’s exchange rates.
  3. A budget and a day. Rent, transport, food and savings follow your lifestyle choices, and your day is written from real facts: climate, transport, language, food and landscape.

What if you were born in…

Country photos from Wikimedia Commons; each photographer is credited on the result card and on the WorldMatch country pages.

Questions

How is my alternate income worked out?

We compare your monthly income with what an average person in Pakistan spends each month (World Bank data), then give you the same position on the ladder in the other country. If you earn about twice the Pakistani average, your alternate self earns about twice that country's average. Very high and very low incomes are softened a little, so the result stays within a realistic range.

Are the rent, transport and savings figures real?

They are estimates. The budget is split using typical shares of household spending, adjusted for your choices (city centre or suburbs, car or public transport, saver or spender) and for how good public transport is in that country. Real costs vary a lot by city and by year.

Is this the same as moving abroad?

No. It imagines you were born and raised there, with local qualifications and language. If you are thinking of moving, use the cost of living calculator, the salary converter and the visa checker instead, which use today's prices and real visa rules.

Is my information saved?

No. Everything is calculated in your browser. Lives you save for comparing are kept only on your own phone or computer.

Where does the data come from?

Household spending and price levels: World Bank (International Comparison Program). Climate: NASA POWER averages for each country's main city. Life expectancy, air quality and homicide rates: World Bank World Development Indicators. Exchange rates: the daily rates used on Dareecha's currency pages.

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