Cost of living comparison

Colombia

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Colombia Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 9.2% cheaper than Colombia overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.7% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 24.8% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 6.7% less in Japan
Housing: pay 19.3% less in Japan
Childcare: pay 0.8% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.8% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 43.5% less in Japan

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

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Japan vs. Colombia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of Colombia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.7% less for restaurants

	Colombia	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.09 COP22,489.29	$6.75 ¥1,066	-4.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.93 COP31,528.63	$5.10 ¥805	-48.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.50 COP4,759.09	$1.13 ¥179	-24.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.15 COP3,637.93	$0.76 ¥120	-33.9%
Average			-27.7%

Colombia vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.8% more for groceries

	Colombia	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.08 COP6,604.13	$1.53 ¥241	-26.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.94 COP12,511.51	$5.55 ¥877	+40.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.55 COP17,600.16	$5.56 ¥879	+0.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 COP9,765.50	$2.01 ¥318	-34.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.90 COP15,548.14	$2.85 ¥450	-41.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.60 COP5,080.61	$2.16 ¥342	+35.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 COP1,990.45	$1.08 ¥171	+72.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 COP2,297.32	$1.54 ¥243	+112.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 COP2,778.06	$1.92 ¥303	+119.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 COP2,174.11	$1.10 ¥174	+60.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.64 COP2,046.26	$1.08 ¥170	+66.8%
Average			+24.8%

Colombia vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.7% less for transportation

	Colombia	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.89 COP15,507.12	$4.11 ¥649	-15.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$57.51 COP183K	$63.20 ¥9,986	+9.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,696.92 COP78M	$21,047.50 ¥3M	-14.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.04 COP66,775.93	$24.65 ¥3,895	+17.2%
Average			-6.7%

Colombia vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.3% less for housing

	Colombia	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.89 COP88,530.84	$33.54 ¥5,300	+20.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$745.73 COP2M	$546.58 ¥86,367	-26.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$482.25 COP2M	$360.78 ¥57,008	-25.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$101.48 COP322K	$113.26 ¥17,897	+11.6%
Average			-19.3%

Colombia vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 0.8% less for childcare

	Colombia	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$597.35 COP2M	$417.01 ¥65,893	-30.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,009.31 COP25M	$11,300.14 ¥2M	+41.1%
Average			-0.8%

Colombia vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombia	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 COP8,214.62	$2.57 ¥406	-0.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.72 COP8,641.67	$3.06 ¥483	+12.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.03 COP12,788.35	$3.83 ¥605	-5.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.34 COP131K	$53.31 ¥8,424	+29.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.65 COP21,122.50	$11.73 ¥1,853	+76.2%
Average			+24.8%

Colombia vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.5% less for clothing

	Colombia	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$82.92 COP263K	$46.32 ¥7,320	-44.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.80 COP171K	$31.33 ¥4,950	-41.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.00 COP425K	$59.45 ¥9,394	-55.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.03 COP365K	$81.04 ¥12,805	-29.5%
Average			-43.5%

Colombia vs. Japan - 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

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