Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Iceland

Iceland vs. China Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 3.9 times more expensive than China overall.

Restaurants: pay 7.1 times more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 2.6 times more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in Iceland
Housing: pay 6.2 times more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 56.4% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.2 times more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Iceland

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

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Iceland vs. China Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iceland instead of China, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 7.1 times more for restaurants

	China	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.02 CN¥20.18	$28.88 ISK3,499	+857.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 CN¥34.52	$22.83 ISK2,767	+342.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 CN¥3.39	$3.25 ISK393	+540.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 CN¥1.97	$3.01 ISK365	+921.0%
Average			+606.6%

China vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.6 times more for groceries

	China	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$1.66 CN¥11.09	$3.55 ISK431	+114.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.71 CN¥44.88	$10.11 ISK1,226	+50.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.65 CN¥44.53	$7.79 ISK944	+17.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.57 CN¥10.47	$6.92 ISK839	+342.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.52 CN¥10.14	$11.01 ISK1,334	+626.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.83 CN¥5.55	$1.43 ISK173	+71.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 CN¥3.92	$1.23 ISK148	+109.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.67 CN¥4.46	$1.42 ISK172	+112.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 CN¥3.90	$2.60 ISK315	+346.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 CN¥2.18	$1.71 ISK207	+423.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 CN¥2.67	$0.76 ISK92	+89.3%
Average			+162.7%

China vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	China	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.77 CN¥31.92	$8.09 ISK980	+69.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.77 CN¥138.99	$80.58 ISK9,765	+287.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,838.53 CN¥126K	$48,967.53 ISK6M	+159.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.24 CN¥28.39	$26.24 ISK3,179	+518.2%
Average			+169.7%

China vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.2 times more for housing

	China	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.27 CN¥75.42	$98.24 ISK11,905	+771.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$336.09 CN¥2,248.74	$2,335.24 ISK283K	+594.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.64 CN¥1,422.74	$1,824.40 ISK221K	+758.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$42.92 CN¥287.14	$72.34 ISK8,766	+68.6%
Average			+518.2%

China vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 56.4% more for childcare

	China	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$500.54 CN¥3,348.99	$833.66 ISK101K	+66.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,908.16 CN¥127K	$27,752.37 ISK3M	+46.8%
Average			+56.4%

China vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	China	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.52	$11.37 ISK1,378	+912.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.84 CN¥19.00	$5.90 ISK715	+107.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.71 CN¥24.79	$13.85 ISK1,679	+273.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.75 CN¥279.37	$83.64 ISK10,136	+100.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.28 CN¥41.99	$17.92 ISK2,171	+185.5%
Average			+224.4%

China vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	China	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.40 CN¥310.43	$134.47 ISK16,295	+189.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.97 CN¥227.29	$63.25 ISK7,664	+86.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$73.79 CN¥493.72	$159.03 ISK19,271	+115.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 CN¥528.10	$237.19 ISK28,742	+200.5%
Average			+143.1%

China vs. Iceland - 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

Compare further: China vs. Iceland

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Iceland?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 7.1 times more money in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

China is about 93 times bigger than Iceland.

Moving from China to Iceland · OECD 2023

99 people moved from China to Iceland.

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