Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sao Paulo vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Sao Paulo is 21.0% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Sao Paulo
Groceries: pay 22.8% more in Sao Paulo
Transportation: pay 33.3% more in Sao Paulo
Housing: pay 8.3% more in Sao Paulo
Childcare: pay 32.0% less in Sao Paulo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0% less in Sao Paulo
Clothing: pay 2.4% less in Sao Paulo

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

Sao Paulo vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Paulo instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Sao Paulo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$7.83 R$42.57	+86.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.69	$7.45 R$40.54	+51.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.39	$1.22 R$6.64	+154.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$0.87 R$4.73	+183.4%
Average			+119.0%

Beijing vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.8% more for groceries

	Beijing	Sao Paulo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.07	$1.91 R$10.39	+11.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.80	$5.88 R$31.96	-21.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.96	$3.98 R$21.63	-40.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.56	$2.66 R$14.48	+49.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.83	$2.09 R$11.35	+36.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.95	$1.28 R$6.99	+30.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.44	$0.85 R$4.65	+11.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.66	$0.74 R$4.05	-7.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.26	$0.88 R$4.80	+46.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.46	$0.66 R$3.60	+90.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.92	$0.59 R$3.20	+42.7%
Average			+22.8%

Beijing vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.3% more for transportation

	Beijing	Sao Paulo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.77	$4.28 R$23.30	+1.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥223.02	$46.58 R$253.39	+47.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	$22,360.53 R$121,627.85	+22.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.71	$7.45 R$40.54	+61.1%
Average			+33.3%

Beijing vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.3% more for housing

	Beijing	Sao Paulo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.43	$20.82 R$113.24	+61.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	$671.45 R$3,652.30	-28.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	$417.23 R$2,269.46	-17.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.61	$46.29 R$251.79	+17.9%
Average			+8.3%

Beijing vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of housing

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pay 32.0% less for childcare

	Beijing	Sao Paulo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	$484.48 R$2,635.27	-31.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40	$15,731.99 R$85,572.56	-32.3%
Average			-32.0%

Beijing vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Sao Paulo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.93	$2.24 R$12.16	+99.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.52	$2.13 R$11.57	-26.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$2.63 R$14.32	-37.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥408.91	$31.73 R$172.57	-45.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.47	$8.39 R$45.61	-0.3%
Average			-2.0%

Beijing vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4% less for clothing

	Beijing	Sao Paulo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥440.46	$54.85 R$298.37	-12.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥257.16	$45.57 R$247.86	+25.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥577.91	$87.31 R$474.90	+6.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥746.11	$74.26 R$403.92	-29.6%
Average			-2.4%

Beijing vs. Sao Paulo - 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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