Cost of living comparison

Germany

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Berlin Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 24.8% cheaper than Berlin.

Restaurants: pay 59.3% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 0.6% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 34.4% less in Tokyo
Housing: pay 33.9% less in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.8% less in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 40.3% less in Tokyo

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

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Tokyo vs. Berlin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Berlin, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 59.3% less for restaurants

	Berlin	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$7.59 ¥1,200	-54.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$5.06 ¥800	-62.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.44 €3.06	$1.64 ¥259	-52.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.10 €2.76	$0.89 ¥140	-71.4%
Average			-59.3%

Berlin vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.6% more for groceries

	Berlin	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.40 €2.14	$1.71 ¥270	-28.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.59 €7.65	$5.29 ¥836	-38.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.72 €4.20	$5.75 ¥909	+22.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.47 €3.98	$2.26 ¥358	-49.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.44 €4.84	$3.08 ¥487	-43.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.61 €1.43	$2.15 ¥340	+33.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 €0.81	$1.07 ¥170	+18.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.52 €1.35	$1.96 ¥309	+28.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.70 €1.51	$2.39 ¥377	+40.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 €0.84	$1.53 ¥241	+61.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 €0.87	$1.46 ¥231	+49.4%
Average			+0.6%

Berlin vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.4% less for transportation

	Berlin	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.66 €7.71	$4.08 ¥645	-52.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$70.54 €62.79	$63.27 ¥9,997	-10.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,914.63 €29,295.20	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-34.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.29 €26.96	$28.47 ¥4,499	-6.0%
Average			-34.4%

Berlin vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.9% less for housing

	Berlin	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.20 €42.90	$30.33 ¥4,793	-37.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,478.95 €1,316.32	$1,280.34 ¥202K	-13.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,114.14 €991.62	$692.48 ¥109K	-37.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$295.08 €262.63	$113.45 ¥17,926	-61.6%
Average			-33.9%

Berlin vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Berlin	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$144.45 €128.56	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+828.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,853.22 €14,109.93	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+15.1%
Average			+227.0%

Berlin vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Berlin	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.43 €4.83	$3.80 ¥600	-30.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.34 €3.86	$3.56 ¥563	-17.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.53 €9.37	$3.92 ¥620	-62.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.06 €35.65	$66.31 ¥10,478	+65.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.68 €13.95	$12.65 ¥1,999	-19.3%
Average			-12.8%

Berlin vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.3% less for clothing

	Berlin	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$95.44 €84.95	$55.50 ¥8,770	-41.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.03 €41.86	$32.95 ¥5,207	-29.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.60 €93.09	$65.04 ¥10,278	-37.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$141.17 €125.65	$70.74 ¥11,178	-49.9%
Average			-40.3%

Berlin vs. Tokyo - 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

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