Cost of living comparison

Rwanda

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Kigali Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 41.0% more expensive than Kigali.

Restaurants: pay 6.9% more in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 52.7% more in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 25.2% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 25.5% more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 6.0 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 86.9% more in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 3.0 times more in Shanghai

The cost of childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, groceries, housing, and restaurants in Shanghai are more expensive than in Kigali. Notably, childcare, clothing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Shanghai.

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Shanghai vs. Kigali Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shanghai instead of Kigali, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.9% more for restaurants

	Kigali	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.71 RWF4,005	$4.47 CN¥29.94	+65.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.77 RWF10,013	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-22.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 RWF1,155	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-23.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 RWF826	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-33.8%
Average			+6.9%

Kigali vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.7% more for groceries

	Kigali	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 RWF1,548	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+88.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.11 RWF3,115	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+308.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 RWF4,675	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+117.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.63 RWF2,412	$1.70 CN¥11.36	+4.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 RWF3,078	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-29.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 RWF1,618	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-9.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 RWF522	$0.77 CN¥5.16	+118.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RWF1,019	$0.90 CN¥6.05	+31.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 RWF707	$0.77 CN¥5.15	+61.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 RWF333	$0.36 CN¥2.40	+58.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RWF499	$0.43 CN¥2.90	+28.3%
Average			+52.7%

Kigali vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.2% less for transportation

	Kigali	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.00 RWF10,345	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-29.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.40 RWF37,550	$29.83 CN¥199.59	+17.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,080.15 RWF39M	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-25.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.97 RWF28,037	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-70.1%
Average			-25.2%

Kigali vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.5% more for housing

	Kigali	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.00 RWF31,041	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-49.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$666.07 RWF985K	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+55.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$413.79 RWF612K	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+42.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$64.32 RWF95,077	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-31.5%
Average			+25.5%

Kigali vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 6.0 times more for childcare

	Kigali	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.90 RWF167K	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+1152.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,510.48 RWF14M	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+191.1%
Average			+503.7%

Kigali vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 86.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Kigali	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 RWF1,502	$1.19 CN¥7.98	+17.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 RWF3,578	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+38.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.03 RWF3,004	$3.73 CN¥24.95	+83.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 RWF39,497	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+145.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.39 RWF5,007	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+164.2%
Average			+86.9%

Kigali vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.0 times more for clothing

	Kigali	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.39 RWF25,701	$54.37 CN¥363.79	+212.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.58 RWF23,031	$37.09 CN¥248.19	+138.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$22.24 RWF32,877	$75.49 CN¥505.08	+239.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.87 RWF50,067	$105.70 CN¥707.25	+212.1%
Average			+198.0%

Kigali vs. Shanghai - 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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