Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Belgium

Belgium vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Belgium is 60.0% more expensive than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.9 times more in Belgium
Groceries: pay 0.7% more in Belgium
Transportation: pay 36.1% more in Belgium
Housing: pay 87.6% more in Belgium
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Belgium
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.9% more in Belgium
Clothing: pay 70.8% more in Belgium

The cost of restaurants, childcare, housing, clothing, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Belgium are more expensive than in Japan. Notably, restaurants, childcare, and housing are significantly more expensive in Belgium.

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Belgium vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9 times more for restaurants

	Japan	Belgium
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,066	$21.51 €19.15	+218.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥805	$12.72 €11.32	+149.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥179	$3.15 €2.80	+177.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥120	$2.69 €2.40	+255.8%
Average			+191.7%

Japan vs. Belgium - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.7% more for groceries

	Japan	Belgium
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥241	$2.56 €2.28	+67.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥877	$7.21 €6.41	+29.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥879	$4.74 €4.22	-14.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥318	$3.84 €3.42	+91.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥450	$5.29 €4.71	+85.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥342	$1.23 €1.09	-43.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥171	$0.99 €0.88	-8.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥243	$1.12 €1.00	-27.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥303	$1.26 €1.12	-34.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥174	$0.99 €0.88	-10.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$0.79 €0.70	-27.0%
Average			+0.7%

Japan vs. Belgium - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.1% more for transportation

	Japan	Belgium
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥649	$7.52 €6.70	+83.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥9,986	$50.17 €44.65	-20.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$34,462.94 €30,673.26	+63.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,895	$26.26 €23.37	+6.6%
Average			+36.1%

Japan vs. Belgium - Cost of transportation

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pay 87.6% more for housing

	Japan	Belgium
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,300	$51.15 €45.52	+52.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥86,367	$940.80 €837.35	+72.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥57,008	$826.78 €735.87	+129.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,897	$167.89 €149.43	+48.2%
Average			+87.6%

Japan vs. Belgium - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Japan	Belgium
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥65,893	$923.48 €821.93	+121.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$22,984.85 €20,457.34	+103.4%
Average			+112.2%

Japan vs. Belgium - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Japan	Belgium
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥406	$4.94 €4.40	+92.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥483	$4.03 €3.58	+31.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥605	$12.32 €10.96	+221.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,424	$36.18 €32.20	-32.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,853	$14.23 €12.66	+21.3%
Average			+28.9%

Japan vs. Belgium - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 70.8% more for clothing

	Japan	Belgium
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,320	$100.04 €89.04	+115.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,950	$43.19 €38.44	+37.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,394	$96.42 €85.82	+62.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,805	$142.81 €127.10	+76.2%
Average			+70.8%

Japan vs. Belgium - 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: Japan vs. Belgium

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Size Comparison · See true size

Japan is about 12 times bigger than Belgium.

Moving from Japan to Belgium · OECD 2023

701 people moved from Japan to Belgium.

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