Cost of living comparison

compared to

Belgium vs. Ireland Cost of Living Summary

Belgium is 13.0% cheaper than Ireland overall.

Restaurants
pay 10.1% more in Belgium
Groceries
pay 2.6% less in Belgium
Transportation
pay 17.6% less in Belgium
Housing
pay 31.2% less in Belgium
Childcare
pay 68.1% more in Belgium
Entertainment and Sports
pay 20.1% less in Belgium
Clothing
pay 12.7% more in Belgium

The cost of childcare, clothing, and restaurants in Belgium are more expensive than in Ireland. Expenses including housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries are lower in Belgium.

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Belgium vs. Ireland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Belgium instead of Ireland, you would:

pay 10.1% more for restaurants

 
Ireland
Belgium
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $19.96
€17.77
$21.51
€19.15
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $12.14
€10.81
$12.72
€11.32
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.67
€2.38
$3.15
€2.80
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pay 2.6% less for groceries

 
Ireland
Belgium
Bread
1 loaf
 $2.02
€1.79
$2.56
€2.28
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.34
€4.75
$7.21
€6.41
Milk (1 gallon) $5.82
€5.18
$4.74
€4.22
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pay 17.6% less for transportation

 
Ireland
Belgium
Gasoline (1 gallon) $7.65
€6.81
$7.52
€6.70
Monthly public transit pass $110.44
€98.30
$50.17
€44.65
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $38,078.30
€33,891.06
$34,462.94
€30,673.26
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pay 31.2% less for housing

 
Ireland
Belgium
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $49.31
€43.89
$51.15
€45.52
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,521.74
€1,354.40
$940.80
€837.35
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,279.42
€1,138.73
$826.78
€735.87
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pay 68.1% more for childcare

 
Ireland
Belgium
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,010.73
€899.58
$923.48
€821.93
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $7,428.18
€6,611.35
$22,984.85
€20,457.34
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pay 20.1% less for entertainment and sports

 
Ireland
Belgium
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.56
€5.84
$4.94
€4.40
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.23
€3.77
$4.03
€3.58
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $19.61
€17.45
$12.32
€10.96
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pay 12.7% more for clothing

 
Ireland
Belgium
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $88.92
€79.14
$100.04
€89.04
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $41.00
€36.49
$43.19
€38.44
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $96.60
€85.97
$96.42
€85.82
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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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Compare further: Ireland vs. Belgium

Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Belgium?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics
Make 53.8% less money in Belgium
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Ireland is about 2.3 times bigger than Belgium.
→
Moving from Ireland to Belgium · OECD 2023
499 people moved from Ireland to Belgium.
→
City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of Dublin vs Antwerp
→
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