Cost of living comparison

Germany

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Essen Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 50.2% cheaper than Essen.

Restaurants: pay 83.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 35.7% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 60.5% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 39.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 52.8% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 42.2% less in Ho Chi Minh City

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, clothing, housing, and groceries are lower in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Essen Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Essen, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 83.8% less for restaurants

	Essen	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.16 €17.94	$1.92 ₫49,832	-90.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$4.62 ₫120K	-65.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.20 €2.85	$0.54 ₫13,905	-83.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.71 €2.41	$0.33 ₫8,590	-87.7%
Average			-83.8%

Essen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.7% less for groceries

	Essen	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$2.13 €1.90	$1.08 ₫27,843	-49.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.23 €7.33	$6.05 ₫157K	-26.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.70 €4.18	$6.13 ₫159K	+30.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.70 €3.29	$1.62 ₫42,008	-56.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.73 €4.21	$1.64 ₫42,570	-65.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.49 €1.32	$1.36 ₫35,261	-8.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.94 €0.84	$0.58 ₫14,953	-38.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.00 €0.89	$0.72 ₫18,715	-27.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.81 €1.61	$0.58 ₫14,918	-68.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 €0.54	$0.54 ₫14,104	-10.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 €0.52	$0.53 ₫13,662	-9.0%
Average			-35.7%

Essen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.5% less for transportation

	Essen	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.44 €7.51	$3.55 ₫91,950	-57.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$64.94 €57.80	$11.55 ₫299K	-82.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,914.63 €29,295.20	$30,715.02 ₫795M	-6.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$32.65 €29.06	$5.80 ₫150K	-82.2%
Average			-60.5%

Essen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.4% less for housing

	Essen	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$41.21 €36.68	$10.46 ₫271K	-74.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$637.02 €566.97	$585.86 ₫15M	-8.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$492.12 €438.01	$297.81 ₫8M	-39.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$297.02 €264.36	$79.24 ₫2M	-73.3%
Average			-39.4%

Essen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 52.8% more for childcare

	Essen	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$467.83 €416.38	$438.36 ₫11M	-6.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,450.01 €8,410.85	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+149.3%
Average			+52.8%

Essen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Essen	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.16 €5.48	$1.03 ₫26,762	-83.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.82 €3.40	$1.81 ₫46,978	-52.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.74 €8.67	$1.23 ₫31,892	-87.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.21 €36.68	$25.91 ₫671K	-37.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.11 €13.45	$3.46 ₫89,697	-77.1%
Average			-69.8%

Essen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 42.2% less for clothing

	Essen	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$96.07 €85.51	$51.59 ₫1M	-46.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$83.79 €74.58	$34.61 ₫896K	-58.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$109.88 €97.80	$91.59 ₫2M	-16.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$156.72 €139.48	$94.62 ₫2M	-39.6%
Average			-42.2%

Essen vs. Ho Chi Minh City - 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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