Azure bandwidth zones: pricing by region
Azure groups regions into bandwidth zones. Zone 1 (US, EU) is the cheapest at $0.087/GB first tier. Zone 3 (Brazil, South Africa, UAE) is over double, starting at $0.181/GB. Your egress bill depends entirely on which zone hosts your workload.
Azure egress pricing, per GB, 2026
Azure bandwidth (data transfer out to the internet) is priced by the source region’s zone. After the 100 GB free monthly allowance, the first-10-TB rate is $0.087/GB in Zone 1 (US, EU, UK), $0.12/GB in Zone 2 (Asia Pacific), and $0.181/GB in Zone 3 (South America, Africa, Middle East). Every zone shares the same tier bands and drops with volume.
So 1 TB per month costs $80.39 from Zone 1 and $110.88 from an Asia Pacific (Zone 2) region. The terms Azure bandwidth cost, data transfer pricing, and egress fees all refer to this same per-GB charge, there is no separate bandwidth meter.
Open the Azure egress cost calculator → to model your own volume, or see the full Azure bandwidth reference →.
Standard MGN routing · verified vs Azure retail prices API, June 2026
Per-zone tier rates
| Zone | First 10 TB | 10-50 TB | 50-150 TB | Over 150 TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | $0.087 | $0.083 | $0.07 | $0.05 |
| Zone 2 | $0.12 | $0.085 | $0.082 | $0.08 |
| Zone 3 | $0.181 | $0.175 | $0.17 | $0.16 |
| DE Zone 1 | $0.087 | $0.083 | $0.07 | $0.05 |
Region to zone mapping
North America (East US, West US, Central US), Europe (West Europe, North Europe, UK South, France Central), and most secondary regions in those geos.
Asia Pacific (East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia East, Japan East, Korea Central, India Central).
Brazil South, South Africa North, UAE North.
Germany West Central, Germany North.
China regions are billed by 21Vianet under a separate contract and not covered by the standard Azure bandwidth tariff.
Practical implications
Choosing region by latency without checking zone can double your egress bill. A workload serving 10 TB / month from Brazil South (Zone 3) costs ~$1,835 versus ~$882 in Zone 1 (after the 100 GB free allowance, both at their first-10-TB rate). For Brazil-facing customers, the cost-aware pattern is to host in a Zone 1 region (East US 2 is close) and use Azure Front Door or a CDN to serve from a Brazilian edge.
Azure also offers committed bandwidth pricing via reservations: commit to a TB volume per month for 12 or 36 months and get rates similar to AWS Direct Connect tier. See ExpressRoute pricing for the dedicated-connection equivalent.
What Zone 1 egress costs at common volumes
per month · after 100 GB freeZone 1 base egress, computed from the tier table above.
Zone 1 base egress, computed from the tier table above.
Zone 1 base egress, computed from the tier table above.
Multiply by roughly 1.38x for Zone 2 (Asia Pacific) and 2.08x for Zone 3 at the first-tier rate. Figures use the same engine as the Azure calculator and exclude cross-zone ($0.01/GB each way) and inter-region ($0.02/GB) transfer.
Frequently asked
Q.01How much is Azure bandwidth egress pricing in Asia per GB in 2026?
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Azure internet egress from Zone 2 (Asia Pacific: East Asia, Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, India, Australia) is $0.12 per GB for the first 10 TB each month after the 100 GB free allowance, then $0.085 per GB for the next 40 TB, $0.082 per GB for the next 100 TB, and $0.08 per GB above 150 TB. So 1 TB per month from an Asia Pacific region costs $110.88 in base egress. These are the standard Microsoft Global Network rates, verified against the Azure retail prices API in July 2026.
Q.02How much does Azure data transfer out cost per GB in 2026?
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Azure data transfer out to the internet depends on the source region's bandwidth zone. Zone 1 (US, Canada, Europe, UK) is $0.087 per GB for the first 10 TB after 100 GB free, dropping to $0.083, $0.07, and $0.05 per GB across the higher tiers. Zone 2 (Asia Pacific) starts at $0.12 per GB and Zone 3 (South America, Africa, Middle East) at $0.181 per GB. The 100 GB monthly free allowance and the tier bands (10 TB, 50 TB, 150 TB) are the same across every zone.
Q.03Is Azure bandwidth pricing the same as egress cost?
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Yes. Azure does not have a separate bandwidth meter for standard traffic. What people call Azure bandwidth cost, data transfer pricing, and egress fees are the same line item: data transfer out to the internet, billed per GB on the zone tiers above. Inbound data transfer (ingress) to Azure is free. The only true capacity-style bandwidth charges are on dedicated links such as ExpressRoute circuits, which are billed separately from per-GB transfer.
Q.04Is the first 100 GB of Azure egress free?
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Yes. Azure includes 100 GB per month of free outbound data transfer to the internet, aggregated across services and regions, in every bandwidth zone. Only egress above 100 GB in a billing month is charged. This is separate from the inbound direction, which is always free.
Q.05Which Azure zone is cheapest for egress?
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Zone 1 (US, Canada, EU, UK, France, Switzerland, Norway) is the cheapest at $0.087 per GB in the first tier. Zone 2 (Asia Pacific and Australia) is about 38 percent more at $0.12 per GB, and Zone 3 (Brazil, South Africa, UAE) is more than double at $0.181 per GB. For latency-sensitive workloads facing expensive zones, hosting in a Zone 1 region and serving through Azure Front Door or a CDN edge is the cost-aware pattern.
Rates verified against the Azure retail prices API (prices.azure.com) in June 2026. Next review due September 2026.