iPad prices in 39 countries around the world: iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3 and more
Apple has just announced the new batch of iPads along with some other updates, and they are launching them in late October, 2014 in most of the world at the same time. As we’ve done in the past, we checked the prices in all the Apple online stores around the world and converted them into US dollars for instant comparison.
If you haven’t researched this in the past you might assume that prices are lowest in countries with lower average incomes, but Apple is like most other companies in that they don’t really discount anywhere. So as before, the cheapest iPad Air 2s and iPad Mini 3s can be found in the United States (at least in states with no sales tax). Canada joins several Asian countries as next cheapest, while Europe has most of the most expensive iPads in the world.
Note: This article was originally published in 2012, and has been updated each year after the new iPad announcements. The data below is from the October, 2014 Apple announcement, and reflects exchange rates at that time.
39 countries ranked from cheapest iPads to most expensive
This year we’ve split the chart into two sections, with the top 29 on the list being the countries where the new iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 will be on sale in November. The section below is for countries that have yet to announce these new products, but are still selling older versions. Note that Malaysia continues to actually have the cheapest iPad Mini.
All the prices below are direct from the Apple online stores for each of the 39 countries they have them for, and converted into US dollars at today’s official exchange rates. Prices listed are all for the base 16GB model with Wi-Fi only.
Prices as of October, 2014, and converted into US dollars
Tax included in most of the world
As most people seem to know, prices in the United States and Canada are quoted without local taxes, which can range from 0(zero) in many US states, up to around 15% in some Canadian provinces. In the United States there are quite a few states that have no sales tax at all, while in Canada there is a minimum 5% federal tax, so that amount has been included in the prices above. Some provinces don’t add anything more, while others add a lot more.
To the best of my knowledge, every other country lists its prices inclusive of sales or value added taxes. Please let me know if there are any exceptions on the list.
Hungary is the most expensive of the countries with new models
Just as with the 2013 list, Hungary is the most expensive of all the countries selling the newest models. It’s strange to see them adding even more tax than Sweden, Norway, and the other Nordic countries.
By the way, Switzerland is also a famously expensive country, yet they have the lowest VAT in all of Europe, so their iPads and other Apple devices are actually the cheapest on the continent.
Brazil is by far the most expensive in general
As with the previous survey combining several Apple products, Brazil is by far the most expensive for iPads alone. Worse still, you can’t get the new models in Brazil yet, so it’s the older models that still cost a fortune. I’ve been told that this is mostly due to the extremely high import duty on foreign technology.
Europe prices are about 25% higher than the US or Canada
As you can see on the chart, the VAT-inclusive prices for Europe are about 25 to 30% higher than the tax-excluded prices for the US and Canada, so the difference is closer to 20%, which is almost entirely explained by the higher sales tax rates throughout Europe. Luxembourg is the cheapest country in the Eurozone to buy iPads, reflecting its 15% VAT rate, compared to around 20% or more in most of the continent.
Not sure why you are ignoring some of the highest taxed countries in the world, namely 3rd world Latin American countries. I’m not sure about now but in the 80’s and 90’s electronics and cameras were at least double the price in Mexico compared to Canada.
Curious,
We took the prices from literally every country where Apple runs an online store of their own. We haven’t updated this article in a few years and there may be a few more now. -Roger
Good comparison – thanks. You say “In the United States there are quite a few states that have no sales tax at all” – but there are only 6 states in the US that have no state sales tax (Delaware, Montana, Oregon, New Hampshire & Hawaii – though Hawaii generally has municipal sales taxes)
Matt,
I appreciate the thorough comment. To me, 6 can qualify as ‘quite a few,’ though maybe I’ll change that to “6 or so” when I update it soon with iPad Pro prices. Thanks. -Roger
Hi,
Would be great to have the article updated with the newly released iPad, and to include a section on warranty duration (Belgium for example offers 2 years – any other destinations that do so? i.e. with cheaper base price).
CorpH,
Thanks. I’m going to update the prices in the article as soon as they release pricing information for the iPad Pro in countries other than the US. The warranty info might be harder for me to track down, and I don’t think it’s a big issue for most people. -Roger
Thanks for this great list. I never thought there would be such a great disparity in the prices of iPads across the world. The strong Euro and pound makes Europe an expensive place to buy an iPad.
You’ve got the prices wrong for Australia – they are much more expensive in Australia.
ipad Air 2
Wi-Fi model:
16GB $619 AUD
ipad air
$499 AUD
ipad mini 3
$499
ipad mini 2
$369
ipad
$299
Belle,
Thanks for the help, but you are quoting prices in Australian dollars, while the chart above contains prices that have all been converted into US dollars. -Roger
iPads in Australia are actually the cheapest if you take into account that you can claim the GST back 10% when you leave, although there is a small handling charge.
Andrew,
The sales tax refund is the same almost everywhere in the world. I know for sure that you can get the tax refunded in Canada, the US (Texas at least) and Switzerland. All these places also charge a “handling” or processing charge.
I’ve been looking iPads here in Tokyo and the Apple store price for the 16GB Air is ¥51,800 which works out to about US$517 (CAD$540) taxes included. The Air can be bought on sale in Vancouver now for CA$500 but once you add the sales taxes and a $1.20 “environmental handling fee” it jumps back up to CA$560. Cheaper in Japan!
Greg,
Yeah, it is weird and surprising that Japan has lower iPad prices than almost everywhere else. Last year when I ran these numbers Japan was the cheapest in the world, partly due to fluctuation of the Yen, which was later corrected by them jacking the price up there. -Roger
The high price creates a black market in Brazil. Anytime I go to Brazil I take one of each (tablet, phone, laptop from Apple) and it pays for the trip and more! Gotta luv it..
In Sweden, the price without VAT is often very close to the american price (w/o sales tax), with small differences for changing exchange rates. 25% VAT does hurt sometimes… 🙂
Lange, I think that is true in most of the world, where the price without VAT or sales tax is only a bit higher than in the US. Brazil is the extreme example with a huge tax that seems meant to keep technology out of its citizens’ hands, or at least it ends up working that way. -Roger
Great list. I was wondering, if ipads are made in China, I wonder what accounts for the much higher price there than in the US? It’s made there. I’m guessing it’s an apple management decision that doesn’t let the plants in China release their goods out directly to the Chinese public. Either that, or the Chinese tax heavily. And I’m also wondering, how is it cheaper in Malaysia? Seems pretty random for many of the countries.
Anyway great list. I didn’t know Brazil had such had ridiculously high taxes, so now I know to never go there for tech deals. I’m a big fan of this site. Keep up the work.
David, thanks for the kind words, and I agree that it is a bit weird and ironic that iPads made in China cost more there, but I believe most of the price differences around the world have to do with taxes and duties on goods from foreign companies. Malaysia has low import taxes from the sound of it. -Roger
The chinese put alot of tax on foreign products of all kinds. This is to help their own state owned companies. If people want foreign stuff, they gotta pay heavily for it. Either way, the only winner in china is the govt.