Cost of living comparison

compared to

East London vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

East London is 13.8% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 94.2% more in East London
Groceries: pay 0.7% more in East London
Transportation: pay 24.4% more in East London
Housing: pay 70.5% more in East London
Childcare: pay 82.1% less in East London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.5% less in East London
Clothing: pay 6.4% less in East London

The cost of restaurants, housing, transportation, and groceries in East London are more expensive than in Beijing. Expenses including childcare, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in East London. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in East London.

East London vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in East London instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 94.2% more for restaurants

	Beijing	East London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$7.20 ZAR121.91	+71.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.69	$4.61 ZAR78.02	-6.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.39	$1.04 ZAR17.55	+116.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$0.91 ZAR15.36	+195.6%
Average			+94.2%

Beijing vs. East London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.7% more for groceries

	Beijing	East London
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.07	$0.87 ZAR14.69	-49.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.80	$3.95 ZAR66.86	-47.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.96	$4.06 ZAR68.74	-38.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.56	$2.14 ZAR36.14	+20.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.83	$1.95 ZAR33.07	+27.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.95	$0.72 ZAR12.24	-26.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.44	$0.69 ZAR11.70	-10.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.66	$0.72 ZAR12.16	-10.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.26	$0.67 ZAR11.39	+11.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.46	$0.72 ZAR12.11	+105.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.92	$0.52 ZAR8.76	+25.4%
Average			+0.7%

Beijing vs. East London - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.4% more for transportation

	Beijing	East London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.77	$4.92 ZAR83.28	+16.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥223.02	$22.33 ZAR377.91	-29.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	$37,451.86 ZAR633,921.50	+105.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.71	$4.84 ZAR81.92	+4.6%
Average			+24.4%

Beijing vs. East London - Cost of transportation

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pay 70.5% more for housing

	Beijing	East London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.43	$45.80 ZAR775.17	+254.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	$273.69 ZAR4,632.50	-70.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	$336.11 ZAR5,689.04	-33.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.61	$91.03 ZAR1,540.73	+131.8%
Average			+70.5%

Beijing vs. East London - Cost of housing

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pay 82.1% less for childcare

	Beijing	East London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	$121.96 ZAR2,064.31	-82.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40	$4,321.37 ZAR73,144.79	-81.4%
Average			-82.1%

Beijing vs. East London - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	East London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.93	$2.59 ZAR43.89	+131.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.52	$2.21 ZAR37.45	-23.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$2.77 ZAR46.81	-34.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥408.91	$34.55 ZAR584.83	-40.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.47	$3.75 ZAR63.39	-55.5%
Average			-4.5%

Beijing vs. East London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.4% less for clothing

	Beijing	East London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥440.46	$53.99 ZAR913.82	-13.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥257.16	$29.75 ZAR503.56	-18.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥577.91	$99.87 ZAR1,690.46	+22.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥746.11	$88.33 ZAR1,495.08	-16.3%
Average			-6.4%

Beijing vs. East London - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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