Cost of living comparison

compared to

Irbil vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Irbil is 6.6% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 31.5% more in Irbil
Groceries: pay 23.8% less in Irbil
Transportation: pay 76.5% more in Irbil
Housing: pay 29.1% more in Irbil
Childcare: pay 77.4% less in Irbil
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.9% more in Irbil
Clothing: pay 9.8% less in Irbil

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

Irbil vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 31.5% more for restaurants

	Beijing	Irbil
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.01	$7.58 IQD9,935	+80.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥33.84	$8.91 IQD11,674	+81.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.31	$0.46 IQD604	-3.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.12	$0.21 IQD273	-32.1%
Average			+31.5%

Beijing vs. Irbil - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.8% less for groceries

	Beijing	Irbil
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥11.77	$0.83 IQD1,087	-51.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥51.51	$3.62 IQD4,747	-51.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥45.80	$4.98 IQD6,526	-25.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.25	$1.89 IQD2,479	+6.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.56	$2.25 IQD2,947	+46.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.78	$0.53 IQD697	-45.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.31	$0.53 IQD696	-31.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.52	$0.52 IQD683	-34.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.15	$0.34 IQD451	-42.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.40	$0.31 IQD402	-11.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.85	$0.33 IQD428	-20.8%
Average			-23.8%

Beijing vs. Irbil - Cost of groceries

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pay 76.5% more for transportation

	Beijing	Irbil
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.04	$2.52 IQD3,305	-40.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥217.55	$34.46 IQD45,137	+9.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥126K	$17,890.19 IQD23M	-1.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥31.91	$20.29 IQD26,576	+338.5%
Average			+76.5%

Beijing vs. Irbil - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.1% more for housing

	Beijing	Irbil
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥89.18	$28.28 IQD37,047	+118.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,449.93	$430.64 IQD564K	-54.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,478.69	$290.96 IQD381K	-42.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥270.80	$76.17 IQD99,776	+94.0%
Average			+29.1%

Beijing vs. Irbil - Cost of housing

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pay 77.4% less for childcare

	Beijing	Irbil
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥4,901.86	$239.27 IQD313K	-66.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥160K	$2,677.50 IQD4M	-88.5%
Average			-77.4%

Beijing vs. Irbil - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Irbil
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.74	$2.01 IQD2,633	+79.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.01	$3.15 IQD4,120	+8.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.01	$2.65 IQD3,477	-36.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥398.87	$65.65 IQD85,992	+13.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥58.01	$11.38 IQD14,902	+35.2%
Average			+19.9%

Beijing vs. Irbil - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.8% less for clothing

	Beijing	Irbil
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥429.65	$33.91 IQD44,418	-45.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥250.85	$50.41 IQD66,038	+38.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥563.73	$78.69 IQD103K	-3.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥727.80	$75.47 IQD98,856	-28.5%
Average			-9.8%

Beijing vs. Irbil - 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: March 2026

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