Cost of living comparison

Greece

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Greece Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 17.3% more expensive than Greece overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.9% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 46.4% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 6.4% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 19.7% more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 89.2% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.5% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 7.5% more in Costa Rica

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

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Costa Rica vs. Greece Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Greece, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9% less for restaurants

	Greece	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.08 €13.47	$11.15 CRC5,063.11	-26.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.42 €9.31	$10.85 CRC4,926.96	+4.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 €2.20	$2.43 CRC1,104.15	-1.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 €0.62	$1.79 CRC811.36	+156.5%
Average			-2.9%

Greece vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 46.4% more for groceries

	Greece	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.28	$2.77 CRC1,259.30	+93.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.59 €5.88	$4.82 CRC2,188.51	-26.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.33 €5.65	$8.37 CRC3,801.08	+32.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.44 €3.96	$3.63 CRC1,650.45	-18.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.45 €3.98	$4.40 CRC1,998.69	-1.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 €0.87	$2.20 CRC1,000.99	+126.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.93 €0.83	$0.73 CRC329.31	-22.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 €0.60	$1.67 CRC756.58	+146.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.94 €0.84	$1.43 CRC650.92	+52.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 €0.48	$1.44 CRC653.84	+169.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 €0.49	$1.33 CRC602.69	+144.3%
Average			+46.4%

Greece vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.4% less for transportation

	Greece	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.09 €7.23	$5.78 CRC2,626.17	-28.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$43.58 €38.92	$66.80 CRC30,340.09	+53.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,260.91 €25,234.09	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-19.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.42 €12.88	$15.71 CRC7,134.70	+8.9%
Average			-6.4%

Greece vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.7% more for housing

	Greece	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.05 €29.51	$51.66 CRC23,462.03	+56.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$568.48 €507.59	$834.08 CRC379K	+46.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$438.39 €391.43	$597.43 CRC271K	+36.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$152.65 €136.30	$68.56 CRC31,138.15	-55.1%
Average			+19.7%

Greece vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 89.2% more for childcare

	Greece	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$416.57 €371.95	$742.27 CRC337K	+78.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,690.51 €5,973.93	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+100.8%
Average			+89.2%

Greece vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Greece	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.76 €4.25	$2.91 CRC1,320.39	-39.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.78 €3.38	$4.06 CRC1,843.59	+7.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.28 €4.72	$5.29 CRC2,404.55	+0.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.64 €44.32	$66.37 CRC30,141.38	+33.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.09 €8.12	$7.92 CRC3,596.43	-12.9%
Average			-4.5%

Greece vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.5% more for clothing

	Greece	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$82.73 €73.87	$67.50 CRC30,654.25	-18.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.66 €36.30	$49.52 CRC22,492.04	+21.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.41 €81.62	$122.64 CRC55,697.30	+34.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.25 €96.65	$108.52 CRC49,287.99	+0.3%
Average			+7.5%

Greece vs. Costa Rica - 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

Compare further: Greece vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Costa Rica?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 25.9% less money in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Greece is about 2.6 times bigger than Costa Rica.

Moving from Greece to Costa Rica · UN DESA 2020

39 people born in Greece live in Costa Rica.

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