Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

China

Beijing vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 9.4% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants: pay 12.9% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 25.4% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 21.1% more in Beijing
Housing: pay 33.9% less in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.2% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 4.3 times more in Beijing

The cost of clothing and transportation in Beijing are more expensive than in Freetown. Expenses including housing, groceries, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in Beijing. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Beijing.

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Beijing vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Freetown, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.9% less for restaurants

	Freetown	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$4.47 CN¥29.87	+123.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$5.22 CN¥34.85	-52.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$0.52 CN¥3.48	-71.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$0.27 CN¥1.82	-67.9%
Average			-12.9%

Freetown vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.4% less for groceries

	Freetown	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$1.73 CN¥11.53	+163.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$7.22 CN¥48.16	+103.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$6.41 CN¥42.78	-30.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$2.02 CN¥13.50	+11.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$1.47 CN¥9.78	-67.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$0.93 CN¥6.23	-70.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$0.79 CN¥5.27	-42.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$0.93 CN¥6.19	+188.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.71 CN¥4.74	-68.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$0.32 CN¥2.14	-64.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.40 CN¥2.65	-46.3%
Average			-25.4%

Freetown vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.1% more for transportation

	Freetown	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$4.96 CN¥33.12	-1.1%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$34.30 CN¥228.99
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	+61.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	$4.68 CN¥31.26	+4.1%
Average			+21.1%

Freetown vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.9% less for housing

	Freetown	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$14.27 CN¥95.25	-74.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$936.67 CN¥6,252.37	+0.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$530.98 CN¥3,544.34	-57.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$44.49 CN¥296.96	-3.0%
Average			-33.9%

Freetown vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Freetown	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$653.29 CN¥4,360.75
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$24,281.96 CN¥162K

Freetown vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Freetown	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$1.19 CN¥7.96	-47.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$3.60 CN¥24.03	+30.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$4.33 CN¥28.87	+44.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$41.45 CN¥276.67
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$7.46 CN¥49.78
Average			-7.2%

Freetown vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.3 times more for clothing

	Freetown	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$70.55 CN¥470.92	+605.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$40.41 CN¥269.73
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$86.99 CN¥580.64	+334.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$125.40 CN¥837.05	+150.8%
Average			+325.3%

Freetown vs. Beijing - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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