Cost of living comparison

Republic of the Congo

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Brazzaville Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 15.8% cheaper than Brazzaville.

Restaurants: pay 38.7% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 43.2% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 13.5% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 33.3% less in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 27.6 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% less in Shanghai

Expenses including groceries, restaurants, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Shanghai. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Shanghai.

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Shanghai vs. Brazzaville Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shanghai instead of Brazzaville, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.7% less for restaurants

	Brazzaville	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.40 FCFA4,903	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-46.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.93 FCFA2,880	$5.22 CN¥34.93	+5.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.60 FCFA935	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-62.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.32 FCFA769	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-71.9%
Average			-38.7%

Brazzaville vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.2% less for groceries

	Brazzaville	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$4.78 FCFA2,790	$1.98 CN¥13.22	-58.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.09 FCFA4,722	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+6.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.66 FCFA6,225	$6.88 CN¥46.02	-35.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.93 FCFA1,713	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-42.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.17 FCFA2,437	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-64.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.11 FCFA648	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-10.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 FCFA452	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-0.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 FCFA965	$0.90 CN¥6.05	-45.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.35 FCFA790	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-43.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 FCFA697	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-70.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.06 FCFA617	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-59.0%
Average			-43.2%

Brazzaville vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.5% less for transportation

	Brazzaville	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 FCFA2,924	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-0.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.39 FCFA13,657	$29.83 CN¥199.59	+27.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,284.24 FCFA17M	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-33.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.49 FCFA7,289	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-54.6%
Average			-13.5%

Brazzaville vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.3% less for housing

	Brazzaville	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.68 FCFA24,915	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-75.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,154.87 FCFA674K	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	-10.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$450.79 FCFA263K	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+30.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$631.61 FCFA369K	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-93.0%
Average			-33.3%

Brazzaville vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 27.6 times more for childcare

	Brazzaville	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$51.21 FCFA29,898	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+2660.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$27,686.22 CN¥185K
Average			+2660.2%

Brazzaville vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Brazzaville	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.70 FCFA3,326	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-79.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 FCFA2,316	$3.35 CN¥22.41	-15.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.76 FCFA2,193	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-0.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.82 FCFA15,074	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+154.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.72 FCFA3,342	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+56.3%
Average			-0.2%

Brazzaville vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Brazzaville	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$54.37 CN¥363.79
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$37.09 CN¥248.19
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$75.49 CN¥505.08
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$105.70 CN¥707.25

Brazzaville vs. Shanghai - 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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