Cost of living comparison

Finland

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Finland Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 28.4% cheaper than Finland overall.

Restaurants: pay 58.5% less in Japan
Groceries: pay 9.8% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 33.2% less in Japan
Housing: pay 31.2% less in Japan
Childcare: pay 1.5% more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 38.1% less in Japan
Clothing: pay 39.7% less in Japan

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

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Japan vs. Finland Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 58.5% less for restaurants

	Finland	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.96 €14.20	$6.75 ¥1,066	-57.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.89 €10.58	$5.10 ¥805	-57.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.80 €2.49	$1.13 ¥179	-59.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.19 €1.95	$0.76 ¥120	-65.4%
Average			-58.5%

Finland vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.8% more for groceries

	Finland	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$2.55 €2.27	$1.53 ¥241	-40.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.18 €3.72	$5.55 ¥877	+32.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.89 €4.36	$5.56 ¥879	+13.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.23 €2.88	$2.01 ¥318	-37.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.94 €5.28	$2.85 ¥450	-52.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.95	$2.16 ¥342	+102.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 €0.82	$1.08 ¥171	+17.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.06 €0.95	$1.54 ¥243	+44.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.75 €1.56	$1.92 ¥303	+9.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 €0.50	$1.10 ¥174	+97.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.77 €0.69	$1.08 ¥170	+39.1%
Average			+9.8%

Finland vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.2% less for transportation

	Finland	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.37 €7.45	$4.11 ¥649	-50.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$69.28 €61.66	$63.20 ¥9,986	-8.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,392.23 €31,500.36	$21,047.50 ¥3M	-40.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.22 €17.11	$24.65 ¥3,895	+28.2%
Average			-33.2%

Finland vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.2% less for housing

	Finland	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$23.47 €20.89	$33.54 ¥5,300	+42.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$812.17 €722.86	$546.58 ¥86,367	-32.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$648.17 €576.89	$360.78 ¥57,008	-44.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$112.50 €100.13	$113.26 ¥17,897	+0.7%
Average			-31.2%

Finland vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 1.5% more for childcare

	Finland	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$343.69 €305.90	$417.01 ¥65,893	+21.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,310.70 €11,847.00	$11,300.14 ¥2M	-15.1%
Average			+1.5%

Finland vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 38.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Finland	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.12 €7.23	$2.57 ¥406	-68.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.71 €4.19	$3.06 ¥483	-35.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.52 €11.14	$3.83 ¥605	-69.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.65 €38.85	$53.31 ¥8,424	+22.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.16 €15.27	$11.73 ¥1,853	-31.6%
Average			-38.1%

Finland vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.7% less for clothing

	Finland	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$91.56 €81.49	$46.32 ¥7,320	-49.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.36 €35.92	$31.33 ¥4,950	-22.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$97.65 €86.91	$59.45 ¥9,394	-39.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.74 €130.61	$81.04 ¥12,805	-44.8%
Average			-39.7%

Finland 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

Compare further: Finland vs. Japan

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