Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Barcelona Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 20.1% cheaper than Barcelona.

Restaurants: pay 57.9% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 10.4% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 3.5% less in Tokyo
Housing: pay 32.6% less in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 24.4% more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.2% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 33.5% less in Tokyo

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

Planning a move to Japan? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Tokyo vs. Barcelona Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 57.9% less for restaurants

	Barcelona	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.95	$7.59 ¥1,200	-57.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$5.06 ¥800	-62.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.98 €2.65	$1.64 ¥259	-45.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.91 €1.70	$0.89 ¥140	-53.6%
Average			-57.9%

Barcelona vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.4% more for groceries

	Barcelona	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.99 €1.78	$1.71 ¥270	-14.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.79 €7.83	$5.29 ¥836	-39.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83 €4.29	$5.75 ¥909	+19.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.93 €4.39	$2.26 ¥358	-54.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.13 €3.68	$3.08 ¥487	-25.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 €1.22	$2.15 ¥340	+56.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$1.07 ¥170	+17.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 €1.07	$1.96 ¥309	+63.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.08	$2.39 ¥377	+96.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 €0.85	$1.53 ¥241	+60.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$1.46 ¥231	+48.1%
Average			+10.4%

Barcelona vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.5% less for transportation

	Barcelona	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.87 €6.12	$4.08 ¥645	-40.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.53 €22.72	$63.27 ¥9,997	+147.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-38.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.90 €13.26	$28.47 ¥4,499	+91.0%
Average			-3.5%

Barcelona vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.6% less for housing

	Barcelona	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.30 €31.42	$30.33 ¥4,793	-14.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,671.42 €1,487.62	$1,280.34 ¥202K	-23.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,296.44 €1,153.88	$692.48 ¥109K	-46.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.62 €123.38	$113.45 ¥17,926	-18.2%
Average			-32.6%

Barcelona vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 24.4% more for childcare

	Barcelona	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$951.83 €847.16	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+40.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,609.14 €14,782.73	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+9.9%
Average			+24.4%

Barcelona vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Barcelona	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 €3.49	$3.80 ¥600	-3.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.23 €2.88	$3.56 ¥563	+10.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.00 €6.23	$3.92 ¥620	-44.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.11 €47.27	$66.31 ¥10,478	+24.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$12.65 ¥1,999	+13.0%
Average			+4.2%

Barcelona vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 33.5% less for clothing

	Barcelona	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$87.34 €77.74	$55.50 ¥8,770	-36.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.19 €34.88	$32.95 ¥5,207	-15.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.13 €93.57	$65.04 ¥10,278	-38.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.81 €106.64	$70.74 ¥11,178	-41.0%
Average			-33.5%

Barcelona vs. Tokyo - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Barcelona vs. Tokyo

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Tokyo?

Size Comparison · See true size

Barcelona is about 6 times smaller than Tokyo.

More cost comparisons

Barcelona vs.

Vienna

Barcelona vs.

Moscow

Barcelona vs.

Paris

Barcelona vs.

Quito

Barcelona vs.

Hanoi

Barcelona vs.

Beijing

Barcelona vs.

Berlin

Barcelona vs.

Dublin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Spain vs. Japan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Spain and Japan.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Barcelona

Add prices for Tokyo

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Tokyo or Barcelona. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.