Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

China

Beijing vs. Alicante Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 30.9% cheaper than Alicante.

Restaurants: pay 70.7% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 30.4% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 28.2% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 31.4% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 55.8% more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.1% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 1.0% more in Beijing

The cost of childcare and clothing in Beijing are more expensive than in Alicante. Expenses including restaurants, housing, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Beijing.

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Beijing vs. Alicante Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Alicante, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 70.7% less for restaurants

	Alicante	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.60 €17.49	$4.47 CN¥29.95	-77.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.99	$5.22 CN¥34.94	-53.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.09 €1.87	$0.52 CN¥3.49	-75.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.33 €1.19	$0.27 CN¥1.82	-79.5%
Average			-70.7%

Alicante vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.4% less for groceries

	Alicante	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$1.67 €1.49	$1.73 CN¥11.56	+3.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.85 €7.90	$7.22 CN¥48.29	-18.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.26 €3.80	$6.41 CN¥42.89	+50.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.29 €2.94	$2.02 CN¥13.53	-38.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.35 €3.88	$1.47 CN¥9.81	-66.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.19 €1.06	$0.93 CN¥6.25	-21.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 €0.82	$0.79 CN¥5.28	-14.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.74	$0.93 CN¥6.21	+11.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.08	$0.71 CN¥4.76	-41.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.86 €0.76	$0.32 CN¥2.15	-62.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 €0.83	$0.40 CN¥2.66	-57.3%
Average			-30.4%

Alicante vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.2% less for transportation

	Alicante	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.80 €6.07	$4.96 CN¥33.20	-27.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.31 €23.49	$34.30 CN¥229.59	+30.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,484.13	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-45.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.83 €12.34	$4.68 CN¥31.34	-66.1%
Average			-28.2%

Alicante vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.4% less for housing

	Alicante	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.89 €26.68	$14.27 CN¥95.50	-52.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,005.77 €897.77	$936.67 CN¥6,268.85	-6.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.21 €743.74	$530.98 CN¥3,553.68	-36.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$106.98 €95.49	$44.49 CN¥297.74	-58.4%
Average			-31.4%

Alicante vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 55.8% more for childcare

	Alicante	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$700.40 €625.19	$653.29 CN¥4,372.25	-6.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,325.53 €8,324.14	$24,281.96 CN¥163K	+160.4%
Average			+55.8%

Alicante vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Alicante	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.36 €3.00	$1.19 CN¥7.99	-64.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 €1.94	$3.60 CN¥24.09	+65.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.52 €5.82	$4.33 CN¥28.95	-33.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.18 €36.76	$41.45 CN¥277.40	+0.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.24 €8.25	$7.46 CN¥49.91	-19.3%
Average			-18.1%

Alicante vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.0% more for clothing

	Alicante	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$84.78 €75.68	$70.55 CN¥472.16	-16.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.56 €31.74	$40.41 CN¥270.44	+13.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.98 €84.78	$86.99 CN¥582.17	-8.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$104.28 €93.08	$125.40 CN¥839.26	+20.3%
Average			+1.0%

Alicante vs. Beijing - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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