Cost of living comparison

Belgium

compared to

Iceland

Iceland vs. Belgium Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 53.7% more expensive than Belgium overall.

Restaurants: pay 42.1% more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 48.0% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 28.3% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 79.8% more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 4.4% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 68.6% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 52.4% more in Iceland

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, clothing, groceries, restaurants, and transportation in Iceland are more expensive than in Belgium. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Iceland.

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Iceland vs. Belgium Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iceland instead of Belgium, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 42.1% more for restaurants

	Belgium	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.51 €19.15	$28.88 ISK3,499	+34.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.72 €11.32	$22.83 ISK2,767	+79.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.15 €2.80	$3.25 ISK393	+3.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.69 €2.40	$3.01 ISK365	+11.7%
Average			+42.1%

Belgium vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.0% more for groceries

	Belgium	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$2.56 €2.28	$3.55 ISK431	+39.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.21 €6.41	$10.11 ISK1,226	+40.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.74 €4.22	$7.79 ISK944	+64.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.84 €3.42	$6.92 ISK839	+80.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.29 €4.71	$11.01 ISK1,334	+108.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.23 €1.09	$1.43 ISK173	+16.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$1.23 ISK148	+23.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 €1.00	$1.42 ISK172	+26.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.26 €1.12	$2.60 ISK315	+106.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$1.71 ISK207	+72.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 €0.70	$0.76 ISK92	-3.7%
Average			+48.0%

Belgium vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.3% more for transportation

	Belgium	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.52 €6.70	$8.09 ISK980	+7.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.17 €44.65	$80.58 ISK9,765	+60.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,462.94 €30,673.26	$48,967.53 ISK6M	+42.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.26 €23.37	$26.24 ISK3,179	-0.1%
Average			+28.3%

Belgium vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 79.8% more for housing

	Belgium	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.15 €45.52	$98.24 ISK11,905	+92.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$940.80 €837.35	$2,335.24 ISK283K	+148.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$826.78 €735.87	$1,824.40 ISK221K	+120.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$167.89 €149.43	$72.34 ISK8,766	-56.9%
Average			+79.8%

Belgium vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 4.4% more for childcare

	Belgium	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$923.48 €821.93	$833.66 ISK101K	-9.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,984.85 €20,457.34	$27,752.37 ISK3M	+20.7%
Average			+4.4%

Belgium vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 68.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Belgium	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.94 €4.40	$11.37 ISK1,378	+130.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.03 €3.58	$5.90 ISK715	+46.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.32 €10.96	$13.85 ISK1,679	+12.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.18 €32.20	$83.64 ISK10,136	+131.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.23 €12.66	$17.92 ISK2,171	+25.9%
Average			+68.6%

Belgium vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 52.4% more for clothing

	Belgium	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$100.04 €89.04	$134.47 ISK16,295	+34.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.19 €38.44	$63.25 ISK7,664	+46.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.42 €85.82	$159.03 ISK19,271	+64.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$142.81 €127.10	$237.19 ISK28,742	+66.1%
Average			+52.4%

Belgium vs. Iceland - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Belgium vs. Iceland

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Iceland?

Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Make 61.8% more money in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

Belgium is about 3.4 times smaller than Iceland.

Moving from Belgium to Iceland · OECD 2023

29 people moved from Belgium to Iceland.

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