The Cheapest and Most Expensive Stock Markets — September 2026
Where global stock-market valuations stand in September 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 September 2026.
The cheapest markets right now
On this blend, China screens as the best value this month, with a score of 8.7/10. The five cheapest:
| Market | Value score /10 | CAPE | P/E | Div yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 8.7 | 15.6 | 9.9 | 1.87% |
| Italy | 8.4 | 24.0 | 15.3 | 3.05% |
| United Kingdom | 7.8 | 22.0 | 15.7 | 3.09% |
| Germany | 7.4 | 25.6 | 17.9 | 1.94% |
| France | 7.1 | 24.9 | 18.4 | 2.83% |
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 | 42.1 | 25.1 | 1.09% |
| Taiwan | 2.0 | 46.2 | 28.1 | 1.04% |
| Switzerland | 2.8 | 30.2 | 25.9 | 1.73% |
| India | 3.4 | 33.1 | 22.9 | — |
| Canada | 3.8 | 30.3 | 20.5 | 1.27% |
The whole world, and the US
The whole investable market (Vanguard Total World) trades at a P/E of about 21.5 and a CAPE near 30.1 — historically expensive, in the 97th percentile of its own history, for an overall value score of 3.7/10 against the individual markets. The United States remains the most expensive major market — a CAPE of around 42.1 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 September 2026.