Cost of living comparison

Germany

compared to

Iceland

Iceland vs. Germany Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 63.1% more expensive than Germany overall.

Restaurants: pay 60.9% more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 55.5% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 19.2% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 92.8% more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 60.7% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.6% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 56.8% more in Iceland

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

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Iceland vs. Germany Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 60.9% more for restaurants

	Germany	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.14 €14.41	$28.88 ISK3,527	+78.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.34 €11.02	$22.83 ISK2,789	+85.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.38 €3.01	$3.25 ISK396	-3.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.93 €2.62	$3.01 ISK368	+2.7%
Average			+60.9%

Germany vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 55.5% more for groceries

	Germany	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$2.14 €1.91	$3.55 ISK434	+66.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.24 €6.46	$10.11 ISK1,235	+39.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.98 €4.44	$7.79 ISK952	+56.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.69 €3.30	$6.92 ISK846	+87.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.17 €4.61	$11.01 ISK1,345	+113.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.44 €1.29	$1.43 ISK174	-1.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$1.23 ISK150	+34.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.01 €0.90	$1.42 ISK173	+40.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.87 €1.67	$2.60 ISK318	+38.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.63 €0.56	$1.71 ISK209	+170.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 €0.54	$0.76 ISK92	+26.0%
Average			+55.5%

Germany vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.2% more for transportation

	Germany	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.07 €7.21	$8.09 ISK988	+0.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.73 €58.67	$80.58 ISK9,843	+22.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,242.72 €28,780.43	$48,967.53 ISK6M	+51.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.60 €23.75	$26.24 ISK3,205	-1.4%
Average			+19.2%

Germany vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 92.8% more for housing

	Germany	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$45.10 €40.25	$98.24 ISK12,000	+117.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$839.53 €749.38	$2,335.24 ISK285K	+178.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$674.34 €601.93	$1,824.40 ISK223K	+170.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$256.19 €228.68	$72.34 ISK8,836	-71.8%
Average			+92.8%

Germany vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 60.7% more for childcare

	Germany	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$525.85 €469.38	$833.66 ISK102K	+58.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,045.97 €15,215.54	$27,752.37 ISK3M	+62.8%
Average			+60.7%

Germany vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Germany	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.03 €4.49	$11.37 ISK1,389	+126.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.91 €3.49	$5.90 ISK720	+50.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.66 €8.62	$13.85 ISK1,692	+43.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.74 €35.47	$83.64 ISK10,217	+110.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.03 €12.53	$17.92 ISK2,189	+27.7%
Average			+69.6%

Germany vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 56.8% more for clothing

	Germany	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$89.23 €79.65	$134.47 ISK16,425	+50.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.05 €39.32	$63.25 ISK7,726	+43.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$100.05 €89.31	$159.03 ISK19,425	+58.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$134.94 €120.45	$237.19 ISK28,972	+75.8%
Average			+56.8%

Germany vs. Iceland - 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: Germany vs. Iceland

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Iceland?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Make 62.5% more money in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

Germany is about 3.5 times bigger than Iceland.

Moving from Germany to Iceland · OECD 2023

411 people moved from Germany to Iceland.

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