Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iceland vs. France Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 59.0% more expensive than France overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.1% more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 39.4% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 31.9% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 69.7% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.2% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 57.4% more in Iceland

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

Iceland vs. France Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 43.1% more for restaurants

	France	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.40 €15.07	$26.52 ISK3,309	+52.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.58 €10.90	$21.32 ISK2,660	+69.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.85 €2.47	$3.11 ISK388	+8.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 €1.66	$2.72 ISK339	+41.6%
Average			+43.1%

France vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 39.4% more for groceries

	France	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$2.00 €1.73	$3.80 ISK474	+90.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.90 €8.57	$9.44 ISK1,177	-4.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.07 €4.39	$7.78 ISK970	+53.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.06 €3.52	$6.71 ISK837	+65.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.32 €5.47	$11.22 ISK1,400	+77.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.38 €1.20	$1.50 ISK187	+8.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.04 €0.90	$1.15 ISK143	+10.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 €1.15	$1.41 ISK176	+7.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.53 €1.33	$2.34 ISK292	+52.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 €0.83	$1.65 ISK206	+72.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.94	$1.09 ISK136	+0.3%
Average			+39.4%

France vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.9% more for transportation

	France	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.83 €6.79	$9.65 ISK1,204	+23.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$55.31 €47.91	$79.56 ISK9,926	+43.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,101.00 €30,407.58	$49,144.25 ISK6M	+40.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.22 €18.39	$25.55 ISK3,188	+20.4%
Average			+31.9%

France vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	France	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.49 €28.14	$95.65 ISK11,933	+194.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$812.51 €703.86	$2,289.17 ISK286K	+181.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$661.67 €573.20	$1,830.04 ISK228K	+176.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.40 €135.49	$65.15 ISK8,128	-58.3%
Average			+123.6%

France vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 69.7% more for childcare

	France	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$772.72 €669.40	$334.67 ISK41,753	-56.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,376.63 €8,989.15	$30,711.08 ISK4M	+196.0%
Average			+69.7%

France vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.2% more for entertainment and sports

	France	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.00 €6.07	$11.14 ISK1,390	+59.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.57 €3.09	$5.62 ISK702	+57.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.51 €11.70	$13.90 ISK1,734	+2.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.74 €34.43	$78.17 ISK9,753	+96.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.44 €11.64	$16.75 ISK2,090	+24.7%
Average			+48.2%

France vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 57.4% more for clothing

	France	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$95.54 €82.76	$130.91 ISK16,332	+37.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.45 €35.91	$61.83 ISK7,714	+49.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.85 €86.50	$163.81 ISK20,437	+64.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$132.46 €114.75	$237.31 ISK29,607	+79.2%
Average			+57.4%

France vs. Iceland - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: March 2026

Compare further: France vs. Iceland

Quality of Life Comparison · 9 statistics

Be 51.4% less likely to be unemployed in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

France is about 5 times bigger than Iceland.

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