Denmark has been identified as the cheapest country in the world to live a healthy life, according to a new study.

Research by Pure Gym using Numbeo analytics (www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living) investigated close to 100 countries worldwide, looking at the average costs of basic healthy food items from the five main food groups, in addition to things such as the average price of a gym membership and the cost of activewear.

The costs were then weighted against national average earnings in each location to reveal how affordable it is to follow a healthy lifestyle, within each country.

Regularly heralded as one of the happiest places on earth – and with capital city Copenhagen already being declared the world’s healthiest – Denmark's top spot is, perhaps, no surprise.

While the Nordic country was crowned the most affordable place on the planet to stay fit and healthy, Iran – with a low average income but incredibly high healthy living costs – was at the other end of the scale, deemed the most expensive location to maintain healthy habits.

Denmark beat the likes of US, Switzerland and Australia for the title – all countries which have comparatively low costs of keeping healthy, with favourable prices of fresh produce and monthly gym memberships when compared to average earnings

Europe dominated the top 10, with seven countries featuring in the most affordable countries to keep healthy. The UK was placed seventh.

The results of the study somewhat mirror the The Bloomberg Global Health Index, which ranks the healthiest (and unhealthiest) countries in the world.

European countries also dominate the Bloomberg index, holding six of the top 10 spots.

However, the Bloomberg top 10 only includes two of the countries on the Pure Gym list – Switzerland and Australia.

Pure Gym's Stephen Rowe said: “Keeping fit and healthy, both in our diets and our exercise routines, is an important part of a well-rounded lifestyle that can also have huge benefits for our mental wellbeing.

"With the New Year fast approaching and many people often using this time to re-evaluate their lifestyles and introduce healthy habits, it felt like the ideal time to look at which countries are more affordable than others to keep fit and healthy.

"And while within the UK alone some locations can be more costly than others, there are always ways to stay healthy, even when on a budget."

The Pure Gym 10 most affordable countries to keep healthy are:

Denmark
USA
Switzerland
Australia
Germany
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Canada
Ireland
Sweden


Pure Gym also recently published an associated blog post giving healthy living tips.