The Cheapest and Most Expensive Stock Markets — October 2026
Where global stock-market valuations stand in October 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 October 2026.
The cheapest markets right now
On this blend, China screens as the best value this month, with a score of 9.0/10. The five cheapest:
| Market | Value score /10 | CAPE | P/E | Div yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 9.0 | 14.8 | 9.4 | 1.92% |
| Italy | 8.0 | 22.9 | 15.3 | 3.01% |
| United Kingdom | 7.6 | 21.1 | 17.1 | 3.10% |
| France | 7.3 | 23.2 | 17.9 | 2.88% |
| Germany | 6.9 | 23.8 | 18.4 | 1.88% |
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 | 1.4 | 40.6 | 24.8 | 1.06% |
| Taiwan | 1.8 | 48.0 | 27.3 | 0.92% |
| Switzerland | 3.2 | 28.8 | 24.6 | 1.74% |
| India | 3.4 | 31.8 | 22.9 | — |
| Canada | 3.8 | 28.7 | 19.5 | 1.22% |
The whole world, and the US
The whole investable market (Vanguard Total World) trades at a P/E of about 20.8 and a CAPE near 29.6 — 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 40.6 and a value score of just 1.4/10.
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 October 2026.