Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Taiwan

Taiwan vs. Japan Cost of Living Summary

Taiwan is 9.5% cheaper than Japan overall.

Restaurants: pay 21.7% less in Taiwan
Groceries: pay 13.3% more in Taiwan
Transportation: pay 13.5% less in Taiwan
Housing: pay 23.2% less in Taiwan
Childcare: pay 41.3% more in Taiwan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.5% less in Taiwan
Clothing: pay 20.0% more in Taiwan

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

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Taiwan vs. Japan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.7% less for restaurants

	Japan	Taiwan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.75 ¥1,066	$4.28 NT$139.05	-36.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.10 ¥805	$4.99 NT$162.04	-2.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 ¥179	$0.95 NT$30.88	-16.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 ¥120	$0.65 NT$21.00	-14.6%
Average			-21.7%

Japan vs. Taiwan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.3% more for groceries

	Japan	Taiwan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 ¥241	$1.74 NT$56.61	+14.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.55 ¥877	$10.75 NT$349.01	+93.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.56 ¥879	$11.29 NT$366.40	+102.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.01 ¥318	$2.49 NT$80.93	+24.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 ¥450	$3.71 NT$120.51	+30.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.16 ¥342	$1.94 NT$62.88	-10.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥171	$1.13 NT$36.64	+4.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.54 ¥243	$1.36 NT$44.17	-11.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.92 ¥303	$1.45 NT$47.20	-24.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 ¥174	$1.07 NT$34.85	-2.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 ¥170	$0.96 NT$31.03	-11.1%
Average			+13.3%

Japan vs. Taiwan - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.5% less for transportation

	Japan	Taiwan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.11 ¥649	$3.85 NT$124.93	-6.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.20 ¥9,986	$34.67 NT$1,125.07	-45.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,047.50 ¥3M	$32,963.14 NT$1M	+56.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.65 ¥3,895	$8.50 NT$275.86	-65.5%
Average			-13.5%

Japan vs. Taiwan - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.2% less for housing

	Japan	Taiwan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.54 ¥5,300	$21.08 NT$684.07	-37.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$546.58 ¥86,367	$462.93 NT$15,023.86	-15.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$360.78 ¥57,008	$291.17 NT$9,449.44	-19.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.26 ¥17,897	$62.73 NT$2,035.67	-44.6%
Average			-23.2%

Japan vs. Taiwan - Cost of housing

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pay 41.3% more for childcare

	Japan	Taiwan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$417.01 ¥65,893	$537.84 NT$17,454.70	+29.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,300.14 ¥2M	$17,498.18 NT$568K	+54.8%
Average			+41.3%

Japan vs. Taiwan - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Japan	Taiwan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.57 ¥406	$1.82 NT$59.22	-29.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 ¥483	$2.83 NT$91.90	-7.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 ¥605	$4.03 NT$130.73	+5.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.31 ¥8,424	$37.82 NT$1,227.43	-29.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.73 ¥1,853	$9.97 NT$323.61	-15.0%
Average			-18.5%

Japan vs. Taiwan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.0% more for clothing

	Japan	Taiwan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.32 ¥7,320	$60.97 NT$1,978.77	+31.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.33 ¥4,950	$32.64 NT$1,059.16	+4.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.45 ¥9,394	$78.55 NT$2,549.27	+32.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$81.04 ¥12,805	$92.75 NT$3,009.92	+14.4%
Average			+20.0%

Japan vs. Taiwan - 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. Taiwan

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