Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Zealand vs. Christchurch Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 4.7% more expensive than Christchurch.

Restaurants: pay 5.9% less in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 0.8% more in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 22.4% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 9.1% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 22.5% more in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.1% less in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 2.6% more in New Zealand

The cost of childcare, transportation, clothing, and groceries in New Zealand are more expensive than in Christchurch. Expenses including housing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in New Zealand.

New Zealand vs. Christchurch Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of Christchurch, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.9% less for restaurants

	Christchurch	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.15 NZ$27.83	$14.45 NZ$24.89	-10.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.52 NZ$16.40	$9.14 NZ$15.74	-4.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.27 NZ$3.91	$2.11 NZ$3.63	-7.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 NZ$3.55	$2.02 NZ$3.47	-2.1%
Average			-5.9%

Christchurch vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.8% more for groceries

	Christchurch	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.76 NZ$3.02	$1.74 NZ$2.99	-1.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$6.92	$3.88 NZ$6.69	-3.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 NZ$11.27	$6.34 NZ$10.92	-3.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.10 NZ$10.51	$5.96 NZ$10.27	-2.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.26 NZ$7.33	$4.01 NZ$6.90	-5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.25 NZ$2.16	$1.18 NZ$2.03	-5.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.87	$0.95 NZ$1.64	-12.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.31 NZ$2.25	$1.29 NZ$2.23	-1.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.99 NZ$3.42	$2.11 NZ$3.63	+6.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 NZ$1.21	$0.85 NZ$1.46	+21.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$0.80 NZ$1.37	+16.8%
Average			+0.8%

Christchurch vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.4% more for transportation

	Christchurch	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.06 NZ$10.44	$6.08 NZ$10.47	+0.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.13 NZ$69.15	$74.52 NZ$128.39	+85.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,961.84 NZ$44,730.98	$24,777.66 NZ$42,690.69	-4.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.44 NZ$28.33	$17.81 NZ$30.69	+8.3%
Average			+22.4%

Christchurch vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.1% less for housing

	Christchurch	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$50.19 NZ$86.48	$50.00 NZ$86.14	-0.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,413.48 NZ$2,435.35	$978.36 NZ$1,685.66	-30.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$971.55 NZ$1,673.93	$810.06 NZ$1,395.70	-16.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.85 NZ$147.91	$95.66 NZ$164.82	+11.4%
Average			-9.1%

Christchurch vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 22.5% more for childcare

	Christchurch	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$612.99 NZ$1,056.15	$635.34 NZ$1,094.67	+3.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,525.11 NZ$16,411.30	$13,463.91 NZ$23,197.66	+41.4%
Average			+22.5%

Christchurch vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Christchurch	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.43	$6.04 NZ$10.41	-8.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.36 NZ$5.80	$3.35 NZ$5.78	-0.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$23.65 NZ$40.75	$23.12 NZ$39.84	-2.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.33 NZ$57.43	$37.72 NZ$64.99	+13.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.96 NZ$18.89	$10.72 NZ$18.47	-2.2%
Average			-0.1%

Christchurch vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.6% more for clothing

	Christchurch	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.06 NZ$101.76	$65.22 NZ$112.37	+10.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.79 NZ$65.11	$39.23 NZ$67.60	+3.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.87 NZ$156.56	$90.28 NZ$155.55	-0.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.08 NZ$212.06	$119.43 NZ$205.77	-3.0%
Average			+2.6%

Christchurch vs. New Zealand - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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