Cost of living comparison

Denmark

compared to

Iceland

Iceland vs. Denmark Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 39.9% more expensive than Denmark overall.

Restaurants: pay 36.0% more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 19.6% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 4.0% less in Iceland
Housing: pay 71.7% more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.2% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 32.5% more in Iceland

The cost of childcare, housing, restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Iceland are more expensive than in Denmark. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Iceland.

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Iceland vs. Denmark Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iceland instead of Denmark, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 36.0% more for restaurants

	Denmark	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.73 DKK137.87	$28.88 ISK3,499	+39.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.74 DKK91.38	$22.83 ISK2,767	+66.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.88 DKK25.80	$3.25 ISK393	-16.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.06 DKK20.36	$3.01 ISK365	-1.7%
Average			+36.0%

Denmark vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.6% more for groceries

	Denmark	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$3.38 DKK22.50	$3.55 ISK431	+5.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.11 DKK47.26	$10.11 ISK1,226	+42.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.62 DKK50.71	$7.79 ISK944	+2.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.86 DKK32.33	$6.92 ISK839	+42.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.50 DKK36.57	$11.01 ISK1,334	+100.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.38 DKK9.21	$1.43 ISK173	+3.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.33 DKK8.88	$1.23 ISK148	-8.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.62 DKK10.78	$1.42 ISK172	-12.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.05 DKK13.65	$2.60 ISK315	+26.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 DKK6.39	$1.71 ISK207	+77.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.86 DKK5.73	$0.76 ISK92	-12.2%
Average			+19.6%

Denmark vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.0% less for transportation

	Denmark	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.78 DKK58.40	$8.09 ISK980	-7.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$90.81 DKK604.01	$80.58 ISK9,765	-11.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$49,082.02 DKK326K	$48,967.53 ISK6M	-0.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.81 DKK145.04	$26.24 ISK3,179	+20.3%
Average			-4.0%

Denmark vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.7% more for housing

	Denmark	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.53 DKK256.26	$98.24 ISK11,905	+155.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,094.37 DKK7,278.85	$2,335.24 ISK283K	+113.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$864.45 DKK5,749.63	$1,824.40 ISK221K	+111.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$148.64 DKK988.66	$72.34 ISK8,766	-51.3%
Average			+71.7%

Denmark vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Denmark	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$546.22 DKK3,633.05	$833.66 ISK101K	+52.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,716.94 DKK44,675.71	$27,752.37 ISK3M	+313.2%
Average			+151.1%

Denmark vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Denmark	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.87 DKK52.35	$11.37 ISK1,378	+44.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.26 DKK41.61	$5.90 ISK715	-5.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.31 DKK61.90	$13.85 ISK1,679	+48.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.88 DKK291.83	$83.64 ISK10,136	+90.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.38 DKK122.25	$17.92 ISK2,171	-2.5%
Average			+29.2%

Denmark vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.5% more for clothing

	Denmark	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$105.11 DKK699.09	$134.47 ISK16,295	+27.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.60 DKK303.29	$63.25 ISK7,664	+38.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$123.67 DKK822.54	$159.03 ISK19,271	+28.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$175.51 DKK1,167.36	$237.19 ISK28,742	+35.1%
Average			+32.5%

Denmark vs. Iceland - 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: Denmark vs. Iceland

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Iceland?

Quality of Life Comparison · 15 statistics

Be 34.5% less likely to be unemployed in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

Denmark is about 2.4 times smaller than Iceland.

Moving from Denmark to Iceland · OECD 2023

219 people moved from Denmark to Iceland.

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