Cost of living comparison

compared to

Karbala vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Karbala is 19.2% cheaper than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 4.0% more in Karbala
Groceries: pay 34.3% less in Karbala
Transportation: pay 32.6% more in Karbala
Housing: pay 43.2% more in Karbala
Childcare: pay 89.5% less in Karbala
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.8% less in Karbala
Clothing: pay 66.7% less in Karbala

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

Karbala vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.0% more for restaurants

	Beijing	Karbala
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.01	$4.96 IQD6,504	+18.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥33.84	$5.69 IQD7,451	+15.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.31	$0.38 IQD497	-21.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.12	$0.32 IQD416	+3.3%
Average			+4.0%

Beijing vs. Karbala - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.3% less for groceries

	Beijing	Karbala
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥11.77	$0.65 IQD847	-62.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥51.51	$2.75 IQD3,604	-63.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥45.80	$4.34 IQD5,684	-34.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.25	$1.73 IQD2,264	-2.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.56	$2.16 IQD2,827	+40.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.78	$0.44 IQD579	-55.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.31	$0.48 IQD635	-37.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.52	$0.42 IQD555	-47.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.15	$0.31 IQD401	-49.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.40	$0.28 IQD362	-20.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.85	$0.22 IQD287	-46.9%
Average			-34.3%

Beijing vs. Karbala - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.6% more for transportation

	Beijing	Karbala
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.04	$1.87 IQD2,445	-55.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥217.55	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥126K	$10,618.32 IQD14M	-41.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥31.91	$13.65 IQD17,883	+195.1%
Average			+32.6%

Beijing vs. Karbala - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.2% more for housing

	Beijing	Karbala
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥89.18	$48.85 IQD63,987	+277.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,449.93	$251.69 IQD330K	-73.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,478.69	$146.54 IQD192K	-70.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥270.80	$54.49 IQD71,377	+38.8%
Average			+43.2%

Beijing vs. Karbala - Cost of housing

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pay 89.5% less for childcare

	Beijing	Karbala
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥4,901.86	$124.83 IQD164K	-82.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥160K	$779.23 IQD1M	-96.6%
Average			-89.5%

Beijing vs. Karbala - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Karbala
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.74	$1.52 IQD1,987	+35.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.01	$1.62 IQD2,125	-44.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.01	$1.90 IQD2,484	-54.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥398.87	$23.32 IQD30,541	-59.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥58.01	$8.79 IQD11,517	+4.5%
Average			-23.8%

Beijing vs. Karbala - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 66.7% less for clothing

	Beijing	Karbala
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥429.65	$17.02 IQD22,298	-72.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥250.85	$13.90 IQD18,214	-61.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥563.73	$30.34 IQD39,740	-62.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥727.80	$32.49 IQD42,564	-69.2%
Average			-66.7%

Beijing vs. Karbala - 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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