Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 7.2% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants: pay 8.9% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 21.9% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 24.3% more in Shanghai
Housing: pay 29.5% less in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.4% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 3.5 times more in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 8.9% less for restaurants

	Freetown	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$4.47 CN¥29.94	+123.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-52.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-67.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-56.4%
Average			-8.9%

Freetown vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.9% less for groceries

	Freetown	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+201.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+142.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$6.88 CN¥46.02	-24.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-6.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-67.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-68.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-43.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$0.90 CN¥6.05	+181.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-66.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-60.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-41.3%
Average			-21.9%

Freetown vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.3% more for transportation

	Freetown	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-1.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$29.83 CN¥199.59
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	+61.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	$5.67 CN¥37.92	+26.0%
Average			+24.3%

Freetown vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.5% less for housing

	Freetown	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-80.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+11.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	-53.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-4.0%
Average			-29.5%

Freetown vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Freetown	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$27,686.22 CN¥185K

Freetown vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Freetown	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-47.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+21.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$3.73 CN¥24.95	+24.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$65.69 CN¥439.52
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$8.95 CN¥59.88
Average			-12.4%

Freetown vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.5 times more for clothing

	Freetown	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$54.37 CN¥363.79	+443.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$37.09 CN¥248.19
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$75.49 CN¥505.08	+277.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$105.70 CN¥707.25	+111.4%
Average			+251.4%

Freetown vs. Shanghai - 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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