Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Qatar

Qatar vs. China Cost of Living Summary

Qatar is 85.9% more expensive than China overall.

Restaurants: pay 69.4% more in Qatar
Groceries: pay 15.2% more in Qatar
Transportation: pay 0.9% more in Qatar
Housing: pay 3.7 times more in Qatar
Childcare: pay 17.5% less in Qatar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.8 times more in Qatar
Clothing: pay 12.7% more in Qatar

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

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Qatar vs. China Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 69.4% more for restaurants

	China	Qatar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.02 CN¥20.18	$6.49 QAR23.78	+115.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 CN¥34.52	$7.14 QAR26.12	+38.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 CN¥3.39	$0.84 QAR3.07	+65.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 CN¥1.97	$0.35 QAR1.29	+19.6%
Average			+69.4%

China vs. Qatar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.2% more for groceries

	China	Qatar
Bread 1 loaf	$1.66 CN¥11.09	$1.38 QAR5.06	-16.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.71 CN¥44.88	$3.99 QAR14.62	-40.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.65 CN¥44.53	$7.97 QAR29.19	+19.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.57 CN¥10.47	$3.27 QAR11.97	+108.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.52 CN¥10.14	$3.56 QAR13.02	+134.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.83 CN¥5.55	$0.93 QAR3.41	+12.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 CN¥3.92	$0.76 QAR2.77	+29.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.67 CN¥4.46	$0.68 QAR2.47	+1.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 CN¥3.90	$0.54 QAR1.99	-6.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 CN¥2.18	$0.39 QAR1.44	+20.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 CN¥2.67	$0.39 QAR1.43	-2.3%
Average			+15.2%

China vs. Qatar - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.9% more for transportation

	China	Qatar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.77 CN¥31.92	$2.14 QAR7.82	-55.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.77 CN¥138.99	$23.33 QAR85.39	+12.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,838.53 CN¥126K	$27,978.05 QAR102K	+48.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.24 CN¥28.39	$17.58 QAR64.36	+314.3%
Average			+0.9%

China vs. Qatar - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.7 times more for housing

	China	Qatar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.27 CN¥75.42	$86.45 QAR316.45	+666.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$336.09 CN¥2,248.74	$1,433.67 QAR5,248.28	+326.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.64 CN¥1,422.74	$856.18 QAR3,134.22	+302.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$42.92 CN¥287.14	$65.24 QAR238.83	+52.0%
Average			+267.7%

China vs. Qatar - Cost of housing

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pay 17.5% less for childcare

	China	Qatar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$500.54 CN¥3,348.99	$670.94 QAR2,456.14	+34.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,908.16 CN¥127K	$9,605.02 QAR35,161.31	-49.2%
Average			-17.5%

China vs. Qatar - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.8 times more for entertainment and sports

	China	Qatar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.52	$11.34 QAR41.52	+909.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.84 CN¥19.00	$5.19 QAR19.01	+82.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.71 CN¥24.79	$5.67 QAR20.76	+53.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.75 CN¥279.37	$119.62 QAR437.91	+186.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.28 CN¥41.99	$11.43 QAR41.86	+82.2%
Average			+182.6%

China vs. Qatar - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.7% more for clothing

	China	Qatar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.40 CN¥310.43	$44.75 QAR163.81	-3.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.97 CN¥227.29	$42.52 QAR155.66	+25.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$73.79 CN¥493.72	$98.38 QAR360.14	+33.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 CN¥528.10	$79.08 QAR289.48	+0.2%
Average			+12.7%

China vs. Qatar - 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. Qatar

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 5.2 times more money in Qatar

Size Comparison · See true size

China is about 828 times bigger than Qatar.

Moving from China to Qatar · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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