Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 6.5% cheaper than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 62.2% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 3.7% more in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 15.6% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 10.7% more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.5% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 9.8% less in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 62.2% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-69.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-28.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-75.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-83.6%
Average			-62.2%

Bucharest vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.7% more for groceries

	Bucharest	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+49.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+97.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+10.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-53.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-51.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$0.99 CN¥6.65	+73.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$0.77 CN¥5.16	+6.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$0.90 CN¥6.05	+31.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-32.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-1.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$0.43 CN¥2.90	+26.5%
Average			+3.7%

Bucharest vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.6% less for transportation

	Bucharest	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-33.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	$29.83 CN¥199.59	+42.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-32.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$5.67 CN¥37.92	+0.4%
Average			-15.6%

Bucharest vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.7% more for housing

	Bucharest	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$10.55 CN¥70.59	+13.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+53.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+30.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-70.2%
Average			+10.7%

Bucharest vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Bucharest	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+125.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+92.6%
Average			+108.4%

Bucharest vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-68.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$3.35 CN¥22.41	-4.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-42.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+33.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+7.0%
Average			-18.5%

Bucharest vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.8% less for clothing

	Bucharest	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$54.37 CN¥363.79	-38.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$37.09 CN¥248.19	-3.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$75.49 CN¥505.08	-3.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$105.70 CN¥707.25	+15.3%
Average			-9.8%

Bucharest 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Bucharest is about 28 times smaller than Shanghai.

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