The Cheapest and Most Expensive Stock Markets — July 2026
Where global stock-market valuations stand in July 2026: the cheapest and most expensive major markets ranked by an overall value score blending CAPE, P/E, P/B, P/S and dividend yield. China screens cheapest; the United States the most expensive.
Every month we rank the world's major stock markets from cheapest to most expensive. The ranking uses a single value score out of 10 (10 = cheapest), blending five measures — the cyclically-adjusted CAPE ratio, price-to-earnings, price-to-book, price-to-sales and the dividend yield — so no single metric dominates. Here is where things stand in July 2026.
The cheapest markets right now
On this blend, China screens as the best value this month, with a score of 9.2/10. The five cheapest:
| Market | Value score /10 | CAPE | P/E | Div yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 9.2 | 14.0 | 10.1 | 2.63% |
| Italy | 8.3 | 22.2 | 14.0 | 2.56% |
| United Kingdom | 7.6 | 20.6 | 18.0 | 3.51% |
| Germany | 7.3 | 22.9 | 18.1 | 1.56% |
| France | 7.3 | 23.9 | 17.9 | 2.58% |
The most expensive markets
At the other end, the United States is the most expensive. The five priciest:
| Market | Value score /10 | CAPE | P/E | Div yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1.5 | 41.0 | 27.3 | 1.06% |
| Taiwan | 2.1 | 44.0 | 25.5 | 0.97% |
| Switzerland | 3.2 | 28.9 | 23.0 | 1.62% |
| India | 3.4 | 33.1 | 22.8 | — |
| Canada | 3.7 | 27.6 | 19.5 | 1.32% |
The whole world, and the US
The whole investable market (Vanguard Total World) trades at a P/E of about 22.6 and a CAPE near 28.9 — historically expensive, in the 97th percentile of its own history, for an overall value score of 3.6/10 against the individual markets. The United States remains the most expensive major market — a CAPE of around 41.0 and a value score of just 1.5/10.
How the score works
For each measure, every market is ranked against the others — a low P/E, P/B, P/S or CAPE counts as cheap, and a high dividend yield counts as cheap too — and those ranks are averaged, equal-weighted, onto a 1–10 scale where 10 is the cheapest. It is relative: cheapest versus these peers, today — not an absolute verdict or fair-value estimate.
Two honest caveats. Cheap markets are often cheap for a reason — slower growth, more cyclical earnings, or a heavy weighting of low-multiple sectors like banks and energy. And every country's CAPE except the US is a clearly-labelled estimate built from free data. Treat the score as a starting point for research, not a recommendation.
See the live ranking
These figures move with the market. For the full, sortable table — every market across CAPE, P/E, P/B, P/S, the dividend yield and the value score, each colour-coded cheap to dear — see stock market valuations by country, updated continuously.
Information only — not investment advice. Figures as of the latest data refresh in July 2026.