Cost of living comparison

Burundi

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Bujumbura Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 65.4% more expensive than Bujumbura.

Restaurants: pay 5.8% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 18.6% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 22.7% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 3.3 times more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 6.3 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 83.6% more in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Bujumbura Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.8% less for restaurants

	Bujumbura	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 BIF11,548	$4.47 CN¥29.94	+16.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.81 BIF11,426	$5.22 CN¥34.93	+36.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 BIF5,269	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-65.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.35 BIF4,052	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-72.6%
Average			-5.8%

Bujumbura vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.6% less for groceries

	Bujumbura	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$2.01 BIF6,014	$1.98 CN¥13.22	-1.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.16 BIF12,480	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+106.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.80 BIF11,382	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+81.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.60 BIF10,797	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-52.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.07 BIF15,195	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-70.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.65 BIF7,939	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-62.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.77 CN¥5.16
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 BIF2,728	$0.90 CN¥6.05	-0.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 BIF2,264	$0.77 CN¥5.15	+1.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.36 CN¥2.40
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.43 CN¥2.90
Average			-18.6%

Bujumbura vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.7% less for transportation

	Bujumbura	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 BIF15,118	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-1.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.09 BIF90,206	$29.83 CN¥199.59	-0.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$19,374.76 CN¥130K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.70 BIF95,016	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-82.1%
Average			-22.7%

Bujumbura vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.3 times more for housing

	Bujumbura	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$67.62 BIF203K	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-84.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$433.02 BIF1M	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+139.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$90.78 BIF272K	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+548.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$44.06 CN¥294.77
Average			+225.9%

Bujumbura vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 6.3 times more for childcare

	Bujumbura	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$99.93 BIF300K	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+1314.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,992.86 BIF30M	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+177.1%
Average			+526.0%

Bujumbura vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 83.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Bujumbura	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.17 BIF6,501	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-45.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 BIF9,075	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+10.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$3.73 CN¥24.95
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.65 BIF79,875	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+146.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.67 BIF4,992	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+437.3%
Average			+83.6%

Bujumbura vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Bujumbura	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

Bujumbura 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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