Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

Sweden

Stockholm vs. Barcelona Cost of Living Summary

Stockholm is 9.2% more expensive than Barcelona.

Restaurants: pay 2.8% more in Stockholm
Groceries: pay 18.1% more in Stockholm
Transportation: pay 41.3% more in Stockholm
Housing: pay 1.9% less in Stockholm
Childcare: pay 59.6% less in Stockholm
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.4% more in Stockholm
Clothing: pay 39.7% more in Stockholm

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

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Stockholm vs. Barcelona Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Stockholm instead of Barcelona, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.8% more for restaurants

	Barcelona	Stockholm
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.95	$17.99 SEK178.38	+0.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$11.90 SEK117.93	-11.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.98 €2.65	$3.66 SEK36.32	+22.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.91 €1.70	$3.09 SEK30.60	+61.6%
Average			+2.8%

Barcelona vs. Stockholm - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.1% more for groceries

	Barcelona	Stockholm
Bread 1 loaf	$1.99 €1.78	$3.97 SEK39.36	+99.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.79 €7.83	$6.37 SEK63.11	-27.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83 €4.29	$6.67 SEK66.09	+38.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.93 €4.39	$5.11 SEK50.68	+3.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.13 €3.68	$5.83 SEK57.75	+41.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 €1.22	$1.60 SEK15.85	+16.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$1.26 SEK12.50	+38.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 €1.07	$1.44 SEK14.23	+19.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.08	$2.02 SEK20.03	+66.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 €0.85	$0.79 SEK7.78	-17.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.80 SEK7.94	-18.8%
Average			+18.1%

Barcelona vs. Stockholm - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.3% more for transportation

	Barcelona	Stockholm
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.87 €6.12	$6.72 SEK66.59	-2.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.53 €22.72	$105.97 SEK1,050.45	+315.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	$32,980.57 SEK327K	-6.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.90 €13.26	$17.85 SEK176.99	+19.8%
Average			+41.3%

Barcelona vs. Stockholm - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.9% less for housing

	Barcelona	Stockholm
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.30 €31.42	$39.70 SEK393.49	+12.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,671.42 €1,487.62	$1,674.52 SEK16,599.03	+0.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,296.44 €1,153.88	$1,080.50 SEK10,710.63	-16.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.62 €123.38	$190.15 SEK1,884.88	+37.2%
Average			-1.9%

Barcelona vs. Stockholm - Cost of housing

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pay 59.6% less for childcare

	Barcelona	Stockholm
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$951.83 €847.16	$157.47 SEK1,560.91	-83.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,609.14 €14,782.73	$16,395.31 SEK163K	-1.3%
Average			-59.6%

Barcelona vs. Stockholm - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Barcelona	Stockholm
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 €3.49	$7.95 SEK78.78	+102.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.23 €2.88	$5.05 SEK50.04	+56.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.00 €6.23	$8.70 SEK86.22	+24.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.11 €47.27	$46.98 SEK465.67	-11.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$18.99 SEK188.29	+69.6%
Average			+42.4%

Barcelona vs. Stockholm - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.7% more for clothing

	Barcelona	Stockholm
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$87.34 €77.74	$111.49 SEK1,105.16	+27.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.19 €34.88	$58.75 SEK582.33	+49.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.13 €93.57	$135.62 SEK1,344.36	+29.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.81 €106.64	$184.97 SEK1,833.59	+54.4%
Average			+39.7%

Barcelona vs. Stockholm - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Barcelona is about 2 times smaller than Stockholm.

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