Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 50.2% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 82.7% more in Japan
Groceries: pay 91.5% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Japan
Housing: pay 73.2% more in Japan
Childcare: pay 50.8% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.0% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 21.8% less in Japan

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

Japan vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 82.7% more for restaurants

	Beijing	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥28.47	$6.60 ¥1,065	+57.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥33.22	$5.10 ¥822	+3.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.25	$1.07 ¥172	+122.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.08	$0.76 ¥123	+147.8%
Average			+82.7%

Beijing vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 91.5% more for groceries

	Beijing	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥11.55	$1.50 ¥242	-12.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥50.56	$5.07 ¥817	-32.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥44.96	$5.67 ¥914	-14.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.03	$2.08 ¥335	+17.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.37	$2.93 ¥472	+91.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.65	$2.14 ¥345	+117.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.21	$1.12 ¥180	+45.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.42	$1.69 ¥273	+111.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.08	$2.13 ¥344	+253.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.36	$1.22 ¥196	+249.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.79	$1.15 ¥186	+179.6%
Average			+91.5%

Beijing vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Beijing	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥28.51	$4.39 ¥708	+4.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥213.54	$59.14 ¥9,540	+87.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥123K	$22,599.51 ¥4M	+24.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥31.32	$25.32 ¥4,085	+447.4%
Average			+140.8%

Beijing vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 73.2% more for housing

	Beijing	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥87.54	$33.91 ¥5,470	+162.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,331.16	$543.18 ¥87,618	-41.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,414.63	$353.61 ¥57,040	-29.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥265.81	$118.72 ¥19,150	+202.3%
Average			+73.2%

Beijing vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 50.8% less for childcare

	Beijing	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥4,811.59	$296.89 ¥47,889	-58.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥157K	$13,159.48 ¥2M	-43.4%
Average			-50.8%

Beijing vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.59	$2.60 ¥420	+132.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥19.65	$3.03 ¥488	+4.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥28.47	$3.89 ¥627	-7.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥391.53	$59.54 ¥9,604	+2.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥56.94	$12.46 ¥2,010	+48.1%
Average			+36.0%

Beijing vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.8% less for clothing

	Beijing	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥421.74	$44.79 ¥7,226	-28.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥246.23	$32.04 ¥5,168	-11.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥553.35	$57.37 ¥9,254	-29.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥714.40	$87.37 ¥14,093	-17.2%
Average			-21.8%

Beijing vs. Japan - 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: June 2026

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