Cost of living comparison

Finland

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Helsinki Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 17.1% cheaper than Helsinki.

Restaurants: pay 59.7% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 16.4% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 38.4% less in Tokyo
Housing: pay 5.9% less in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.5% less in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 39.6% less in Tokyo

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

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Tokyo vs. Helsinki Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Helsinki, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 59.7% less for restaurants

	Helsinki	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.99	$7.59 ¥1,202	-57.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.99	$5.06 ¥801	-62.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.45 €3.08	$1.64 ¥260	-52.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.59 €2.31	$0.89 ¥140	-65.8%
Average			-59.7%

Helsinki vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.4% more for groceries

	Helsinki	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.76 €2.46	$1.71 ¥271	-38.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.96 €4.42	$5.29 ¥838	+6.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.08 €4.54	$5.75 ¥911	+13.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.93 €3.51	$2.26 ¥358	-42.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.02 €5.37	$3.08 ¥488	-48.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 €1.12	$2.15 ¥340	+71.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$1.07 ¥170	+8.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 €1.00	$1.96 ¥310	+74.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.77 €1.58	$2.39 ¥378	+34.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 €0.49	$1.53 ¥242	+176.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 €0.66	$1.46 ¥231	+97.6%
Average			+16.4%

Helsinki vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.4% less for transportation

	Helsinki	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.89 €7.93	$4.08 ¥646	-54.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$81.74 €72.96	$63.27 ¥10,014	-22.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,622.07 €32,689.52	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-40.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.34 €23.51	$28.47 ¥4,506	+8.1%
Average			-38.4%

Helsinki vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.9% less for housing

	Helsinki	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.77 €22.11	$30.33 ¥4,801	+22.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,207.26 €1,077.62	$1,280.34 ¥203K	+6.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$904.00 €806.93	$692.48 ¥110K	-23.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$104.89 €93.62	$113.45 ¥17,957	+8.2%
Average			-5.9%

Helsinki vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Helsinki	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$476.51 €425.34	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+181.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,685.20 €11,323.04	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+43.9%
Average			+101.3%

Helsinki vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Helsinki	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$10.08 €9.00	$3.80 ¥601	-62.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.23 €4.67	$3.56 ¥564	-31.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.00 €12.49	$3.92 ¥621	-72.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.96 €41.92	$66.31 ¥10,495	+41.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.48 €16.49	$12.65 ¥2,003	-31.5%
Average			-33.5%

Helsinki vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.6% less for clothing

	Helsinki	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.46 €82.53	$55.50 ¥8,785	-40.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.55 €38.87	$32.95 ¥5,216	-24.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.85 €93.59	$65.04 ¥10,296	-38.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$149.45 €133.40	$70.74 ¥11,197	-52.7%
Average			-39.6%

Helsinki vs. Tokyo - 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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Helsinki is about 2.9 times smaller than Tokyo.

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