Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Mongolia

Mongolia vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Mongolia is 12.0% cheaper than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 10.4% less in Mongolia
Groceries: pay 25.4% less in Mongolia
Transportation: pay 33.3% less in Mongolia
Housing: pay 5.4% less in Mongolia
Childcare: pay 19.7% more in Mongolia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.2% less in Mongolia
Clothing: pay 78.9% more in Mongolia

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

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Mongolia vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.4% less for restaurants

	Japan	Mongolia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,059	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	-17.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥800	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	+9.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥178	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	-24.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥119	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	-22.0%
Average			-10.4%

Japan vs. Mongolia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.4% less for groceries

	Japan	Mongolia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥239	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	-34.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥871	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	+11.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥873	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	-1.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥315	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	+4.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥447	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	-22.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥339	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	-35.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	+0.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥241	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	+10.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥301	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	-28.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥173	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	-70.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥169	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	-55.3%
Average			-25.4%

Japan vs. Mongolia - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.3% less for transportation

	Japan	Mongolia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥644	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	+5.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥9,914	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	-73.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$26,896.36 MNT97M	+27.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,866	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	-80.3%
Average			-33.3%

Japan vs. Mongolia - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.4% less for housing

	Japan	Mongolia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,261	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	-59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥85,739	$569.30 MNT2M	+4.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥56,593	$444.50 MNT2M	+23.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,767	$54.38 MNT196K	-52.0%
Average			-5.4%

Japan vs. Mongolia - Cost of housing

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pay 19.7% more for childcare

	Japan	Mongolia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥65,413	$817.79 MNT3M	+96.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$8,262.71 MNT30M	-26.9%
Average			+19.7%

Japan vs. Mongolia - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Japan	Mongolia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥403	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	-8.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥479	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	-20.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥600	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	-56.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,363	$67.73 MNT244K	+27.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,840	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	-64.5%
Average			-29.2%

Japan vs. Mongolia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 78.9% more for clothing

	Japan	Mongolia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,267	$81.73 MNT294K	+76.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,914	$45.38 MNT163K	+44.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,325	$102.93 MNT370K	+73.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,712	$187.55 MNT675K	+131.4%
Average			+78.9%

Japan vs. Mongolia - 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. Mongolia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Mongolia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 2.1 times more likely to be unemployed in Mongolia

Size Comparison · See true size

Japan is about 4.1 times smaller than Mongolia.

Moving from Japan to Mongolia · UN DESA 2020

444 people born in Japan live in Mongolia.

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