Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Norway

Norway vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Norway is 47.8% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 71.6% more in Norway
Groceries: pay 19.7% more in Norway
Transportation: pay 55.4% more in Norway
Housing: pay 79.5% more in Norway
Childcare: pay 50.0% less in Norway
Entertainment and Sports: pay 81.9% more in Norway
Clothing: pay 26.9% more in Norway

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

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Norway vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Norway instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 71.6% more for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Norway
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	$22.46 NOK211.73	+101.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	$15.20 NOK143.30	+40.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	$3.98 NOK37.57	+63.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC813.02	$3.16 NOK29.84	+77.2%
Average			+71.6%

Costa Rica vs. Norway - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.7% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Norway
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	$3.73 NOK35.18	+34.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	$6.51 NOK61.37	+35.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	$9.11 NOK85.89	+8.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	$5.06 NOK47.73	+39.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	$6.95 NOK65.50	+57.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	$1.62 NOK15.25	-26.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.98	$1.22 NOK11.51	+68.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC758.13	$1.65 NOK15.58	-0.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC652.25	$2.31 NOK21.81	+61.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC655.18	$1.20 NOK11.27	-17.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC603.93	$1.34 NOK12.62	+0.8%
Average			+19.7%

Costa Rica vs. Norway - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.4% more for transportation

	Costa Rica	Norway
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	$8.73 NOK82.31	+51.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	$78.63 NOK741.28	+17.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$45,459.95 NOK429K	+99.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	$25.74 NOK242.62	+63.8%
Average			+55.4%

Costa Rica vs. Norway - Cost of transportation

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pay 79.5% more for housing

	Costa Rica	Norway
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	$65.87 NOK621.01	+27.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$1,278.72 NOK12,055.43	+53.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$1,052.00 NOK9,917.95	+76.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	$221.33 NOK2,086.60	+222.8%
Average			+79.5%

Costa Rica vs. Norway - Cost of housing

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pay 50.0% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Norway
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	$256.93 NOK2,422.26	-65.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$9,715.88 NOK91,598.41	-27.7%
Average			-50.0%

Costa Rica vs. Norway - Cost of childcare

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pay 81.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Norway
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	$11.32 NOK106.75	+289.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	$5.55 NOK52.32	+36.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	$16.96 NOK159.92	+220.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	$53.57 NOK505.04	-19.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	$17.67 NOK166.62	+123.2%
Average			+81.9%

Costa Rica vs. Norway - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.9% more for clothing

	Costa Rica	Norway
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	$102.56 NOK966.91	+52.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	$56.21 NOK529.89	+13.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	$125.90 NOK1,186.93	+2.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	$159.02 NOK1,499.22	+46.5%
Average			+26.9%

Costa Rica vs. Norway - 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: Costa Rica vs. Norway

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Norway?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 4.7 times more money in Norway

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 6 times smaller than Norway.

Moving from Costa Rica to Norway · OECD 2023

8 people moved from Costa Rica to Norway.

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