Cost of living comparison

United Kingdom

compared to

Iceland

Reykjavik vs. Cardiff Cost of Living Summary

Reykjavik is 48.7% more expensive than Cardiff.

Restaurants: pay 79.1% more in Reykjavik
Groceries: pay 72.9% more in Reykjavik
Transportation: pay 18.2% more in Reykjavik
Housing: pay 50.1% more in Reykjavik
Childcare: pay 31.2% less in Reykjavik
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.7% more in Reykjavik
Clothing: pay 68.6% more in Reykjavik

The cost of restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, housing, and transportation in Reykjavik are more expensive than in Cardiff. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Reykjavik.

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Reykjavik vs. Cardiff Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Reykjavik instead of Cardiff, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 79.1% more for restaurants

	Cardiff	Reykjavik
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.82 £14.84	$31.06 ISK3,813	+56.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.57 £7.91	$26.97 ISK3,312	+155.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.00 £2.25	$3.31 ISK407	+10.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.02 £1.51	$3.11 ISK381	+54.0%
Average			+79.1%

Cardiff vs. Reykjavik - Cost of restaurants

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pay 72.9% more for groceries

	Cardiff	Reykjavik
Bread 1 loaf	$1.45 £1.08	$4.19 ISK515	+189.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.67 £3.49	$10.93 ISK1,342	+134.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.67 £4.99	$7.78 ISK955	+16.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.70 £2.77	$7.08 ISK869	+91.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.91 £2.92	$11.00 ISK1,351	+181.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.24 £0.93	$1.50 ISK185	+21.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68 £0.51	$1.27 ISK156	+85.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 £1.03	$1.46 ISK179	+6.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.62 £1.21	$2.93 ISK360	+81.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 £0.66	$1.78 ISK218	+101.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 £0.52	$0.76 ISK93	+9.9%
Average			+72.9%

Cardiff vs. Reykjavik - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.2% more for transportation

	Cardiff	Reykjavik
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.98 £5.97	$7.76 ISK953	-2.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$79.29 £59.36	$94.80 ISK11,641	+19.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,182.92 £28,586.44	$50,588.43 ISK6M	+32.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.16 £13.59	$29.26 ISK3,593	+61.1%
Average			+18.2%

Cardiff vs. Reykjavik - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.1% more for housing

	Cardiff	Reykjavik
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$44.27 £33.15	$86.01 ISK10,561	+94.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,148.33 £859.72	$2,522.88 ISK310K	+119.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,093.71 £818.83	$2,032.25 ISK250K	+85.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$260.37 £194.93	$73.44 ISK9,018	-71.8%
Average			+50.1%

Cardiff vs. Reykjavik - Cost of housing

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pay 31.2% less for childcare

	Cardiff	Reykjavik
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,996.84 £1,494.97	$1,185.23 ISK146K	-40.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$32,375.20 £24,238.38	$25,853.51 ISK3M	-20.1%
Average			-31.2%

Cardiff vs. Reykjavik - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cardiff	Reykjavik
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.60 £5.69	$13.89 ISK1,706	+82.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.52 £3.39	$6.74 ISK828	+49.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$23.46 £17.56	$13.89 ISK1,706	-40.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.79 £28.29	$100.25 ISK12,310	+165.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.57 £7.91	$19.57 ISK2,403	+85.2%
Average			+72.7%

Cardiff vs. Reykjavik - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 68.6% more for clothing

	Cardiff	Reykjavik
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$98.79 £73.96	$149.01 ISK18,297	+50.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.09 £36.01	$65.79 ISK8,078	+36.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$117.93 £88.29	$181.84 ISK22,328	+54.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.86 £73.27	$248.81 ISK30,551	+154.2%
Average			+68.6%

Cardiff vs. Reykjavik - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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