Cost of living comparison

Bhutan

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Bhutan Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 4.5 times more expensive than Bhutan overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Japan
Groceries: pay 2.9 times more in Japan
Transportation: pay 5.9 times more in Japan
Housing: pay 4.3 times more in Japan
Childcare: pay 10.8 times more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 82.0% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 3.1 times more in Japan

The cost of childcare, transportation, housing, clothing, groceries, and restaurants in Japan are more expensive than in Bhutan. Notably, childcare, transportation, and housing are significantly more expensive in Japan.

Japan vs. Bhutan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Bhutan	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.82 BTN267.70	$6.60 ¥1,052	+134.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.38 BTN321.24	$5.10 ¥812	+50.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 BTN50.33	$1.07 ¥170	+101.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN17.40	$0.76 ¥121	+315.1%
Average			+150.3%

Bhutan vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9 times more for groceries

	Bhutan	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$0.89 BTN84.59	$1.50 ¥239	+68.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.61 BTN152.59	$5.07 ¥807	+215.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN287.80	$5.67 ¥903	+87.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.96 BTN185.89	$2.08 ¥331	+6.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.70 BTN161.26	$2.93 ¥466	+72.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 BTN103.62	$2.14 ¥340	+95.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 BTN62.17	$1.12 ¥178	+70.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 BTN78.52	$1.69 ¥270	+104.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN31.17	$2.13 ¥339	+549.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 BTN21.45	$1.22 ¥194	+438.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN24.69	$1.15 ¥184	+343.6%
Average			+186.5%

Bhutan vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.9 times more for transportation

	Bhutan	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN287.95	$4.39 ¥699	+44.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.01 BTN380.33	$59.14 ¥9,422	+1376.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,599.51 ¥4M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.89 BTN1,793.61	$25.32 ¥4,034	+34.1%
Average			+485.2%

Bhutan vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.3 times more for housing

	Bhutan	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.44 BTN2,510.77	$33.91 ¥5,403	+28.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$122.58 BTN11,639.75	$543.18 ¥86,534	+343.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$71.54 BTN6,793.40	$353.61 ¥56,334	+394.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$17.80 BTN1,690.50	$118.72 ¥18,913	+566.9%
Average			+333.1%

Bhutan vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 10.8 times more for childcare

	Bhutan	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$235.40 BTN22,353.24	$296.89 ¥47,296	+26.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$648.40 BTN61,571.80	$13,159.48 ¥2M	+1929.5%
Average			+977.8%

Bhutan vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 82.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Bhutan	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.82 BTN267.70	$2.60 ¥415	-7.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.40 BTN132.78	$3.03 ¥482	+116.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.66 BTN348.01	$3.89 ¥619	+6.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.99 BTN4,461.72	$59.54 ¥9,485	+26.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.38 BTN321.24	$12.46 ¥1,985	+268.4%
Average			+82.0%

Bhutan vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.1 times more for clothing

	Bhutan	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$9.02 BTN856.65	$44.79 ¥7,136	+396.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$11.28 BTN1,070.81	$32.04 ¥5,104	+184.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$31.01 BTN2,944.74	$57.37 ¥9,139	+85.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$31.01 BTN2,944.74	$87.37 ¥13,919	+181.7%
Average			+211.8%

Bhutan 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

Compare further: Bhutan vs. Japan

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 9 statistics

Make 3.3 times more money in Japan

Size Comparison · See true size

Bhutan is about 10 times smaller than Japan.

Moving from Bhutan to Japan · OECD 2023

372 people moved from Bhutan to Japan.

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