Israel has ranked second in an annual index presenting the price worldwide of a McDonald’s Big Mac. Climbing three places on the previous year, Israel is now second only to Switzerland, according to the Economist’s 2026 Big Mac Index. Established 40 years ago by the British publication, the index compares the relative price worldwide of McDonalds’ flagship hamburger with the aim of simplifying the theory of purchasing power parity – the idea that exchange rates should move towards the rate that would equalise the prices of an identical basket of goods and services (in this case, a burger) in any two countries. Israel’s climb up the league table is largely due to the appreciation of the shekel over the past year.