Ireland is certainly not the cheapest country when it comes to technology products, but a new survey shows it is by no means the most expensive either.
The country has been ranked in 47th place out of 72 for the cost of tech gadgets such as iPhones and PlayStation consoles.
The study, conducted by ecommerce platform Linio, considered the average prices of four different popular devices including smartphones, laptops, game consoles, smart televisions, portable hard drives, multifunction printers and tablets.
Venezuela was found to be the most expensive country for all products due to inflation, which is forecast to rise to 1,660 per cent next year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Ireland had an overall ranking of 47, coming in 18th worldwide for the cost of multifunction devices, 31st for brand headphones, 33rd for an XBox One, 34th for a Windows laptop and 38th for an iPad Mini. In addition, Ireland was ranked 46th for both PS4's and iPhones, 47th for an Apple Watch and 49th for a Samsung Tablet.
The cheapest countries generally for tech were those in the Middle East that, despite relatively high costs of living, levy low VAT on consumer products. On the other end of the scale, the most expensive countries for electronics were countries such as Belarus and Venezuela, where inflation and import restrictions have taken a huge toll on consumer access to the market.
After Venezuela, Angola ranked as the most expensive nation overall for technology products, followed by Brunei, Brazil, Guatemala and Singapore.
Kuwait was found to be the most affordable country, with Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rounding out the top five cheapest nations for tech products.
