Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Moldova

Moldova vs. China Cost of Living Summary

Moldova is 19.0% more expensive than China overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Moldova
Groceries: pay 10.8% less in Moldova
Transportation: pay 22.5% more in Moldova
Housing: pay 48.0% more in Moldova
Childcare: pay 64.5% less in Moldova
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.3% less in Moldova
Clothing: pay 7.7% more in Moldova

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

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Moldova vs. China Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	China	Moldova
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.02 CN¥20.18	$9.35 MDL167.98	+210.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 CN¥34.52	$8.74 MDL157.06	+69.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 CN¥3.39	$1.02 MDL18.32	+101.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 CN¥1.97	$0.67 MDL12.05	+127.6%
Average			+133.0%

China vs. Moldova - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.8% less for groceries

	China	Moldova
Bread 1 loaf	$1.66 CN¥11.09	$0.51 MDL9.13	-69.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.71 CN¥44.88	$3.87 MDL69.59	-42.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.65 CN¥44.53	$4.41 MDL79.21	-33.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.57 CN¥10.47	$2.31 MDL41.48	+47.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.52 CN¥10.14	$2.20 MDL39.50	+45.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.83 CN¥5.55	$0.45 MDL8.11	-45.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 CN¥3.92	$0.93 MDL16.65	+58.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.67 CN¥4.46	$0.87 MDL15.67	+30.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 CN¥3.90	$1.04 MDL18.65	+78.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 CN¥2.18	$0.31 MDL5.63	-4.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 CN¥2.67	$0.23 MDL4.22	-41.3%
Average			-10.8%

China vs. Moldova - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.5% more for transportation

	China	Moldova
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.77 CN¥31.92	$6.15 MDL110.50	+28.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.77 CN¥138.99	$17.07 MDL306.73	-17.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,838.53 CN¥126K	$32,274.90 MDL580K	+71.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.24 CN¥28.39	$4.30 MDL77.27	+1.3%
Average			+22.5%

China vs. Moldova - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.0% more for housing

	China	Moldova
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.27 CN¥75.42	$10.64 MDL191.11	-5.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$336.09 CN¥2,248.74	$414.42 MDL7,445.70	+23.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.64 CN¥1,422.74	$301.91 MDL5,424.26	+42.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$42.92 CN¥287.14	$134.34 MDL2,413.65	+213.0%
Average			+48.0%

China vs. Moldova - Cost of housing

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pay 64.5% less for childcare

	China	Moldova
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$500.54 CN¥3,348.99	$219.48 MDL3,943.33	-56.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,908.16 CN¥127K	$5,438.11 MDL97,703.64	-71.2%
Average			-64.5%

China vs. Moldova - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.3% less for entertainment and sports

	China	Moldova
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.52	$1.50 MDL26.88	+33.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.84 CN¥19.00	$1.77 MDL31.77	-37.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.71 CN¥24.79	$3.38 MDL60.81	-8.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.75 CN¥279.37	$31.66 MDL568.73	-24.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.28 CN¥41.99	$6.45 MDL115.91	+2.8%
Average			-10.3%

China vs. Moldova - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.7% more for clothing

	China	Moldova
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.40 CN¥310.43	$52.78 MDL948.25	+13.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.97 CN¥227.29	$38.13 MDL685.02	+12.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$73.79 CN¥493.72	$92.27 MDL1,657.83	+25.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 CN¥528.10	$66.57 MDL1,196.02	-15.7%
Average			+7.7%

China vs. Moldova - 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. Moldova

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 67.5% less likely to be unemployed in Moldova

Size Comparison · See true size

China is about 284 times bigger than Moldova.

Moving from China to Moldova · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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