Cost of living comparison

compared to

Shanghai vs. London Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 13.0% cheaper than London.

Restaurants: pay 70.1% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 25.4% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 34.7% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 56.0% less in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.9% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 0.8% less in Shanghai

Expenses including restaurants, housing, transportation, groceries, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Shanghai. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Shanghai.

Shanghai vs. London Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 70.1% less for restaurants

	London	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.99 CA$24.78	$4.21 CN¥29.67	-76.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.78 CA$14.86	$5.61 CN¥39.56	-48.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.90 CA$2.61	$0.52 CN¥3.70	-72.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.97 CA$2.72	$0.33 CN¥2.30	-83.4%
Average			-70.1%

London vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.4% less for groceries

	London	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$2.39 CA$3.29	$1.86 CN¥13.11	-22.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.52 CA$6.22	$8.08 CN¥56.99	+78.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.18 CA$8.52	$8.27 CN¥58.33	+33.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.18 CA$4.38	$1.74 CN¥12.31	-45.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.45 CA$7.51	$1.36 CN¥9.60	-75.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.83 CA$2.52	$1.00 CN¥7.08	-45.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 CA$1.03	$0.78 CN¥5.49	+4.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 CA$2.19	$0.84 CN¥5.92	-47.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.61 CA$2.21	$0.66 CN¥4.66	-58.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 CA$1.02	$0.35 CN¥2.44	-53.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.98 CA$1.34	$0.49 CN¥3.46	-49.8%
Average			-25.4%

London vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.7% less for transportation

	London	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.05 CA$5.58	$4.24 CN¥29.89	+4.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$80.58 CA$111.03	$35.05 CN¥247.26	-56.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,444.83 CA$33,683.76	$19,627.64 CN¥138,463.16	-19.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.09 CA$23.54	$5.61 CN¥39.56	-67.2%
Average			-34.7%

London vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 56.0% less for housing

	London	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$52.29 CA$72.05	$12.37 CN¥87.29	-76.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,365.58 CA$1,881.71	$926.30 CN¥6,534.61	-32.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,234.03 CA$1,700.44	$551.44 CN¥3,890.16	-55.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$101.34 CA$139.65	$40.55 CN¥286.04	-60.0%
Average			-56.0%

London vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	London	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$539.57 CA$743.51	$1,229.70 CN¥8,674.93	+127.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,028.91 CA$19,331.13	$29,777.93 CN¥210,068.39	+112.3%
Average			+120.1%

London vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.9% less for entertainment and sports

	London	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.76 CA$7.93	$1.40 CN¥9.89	-75.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.38 CA$4.65	$3.25 CN¥22.92	-3.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.23 CA$16.85	$2.80 CN¥19.78	-77.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.20 CA$51.27	$57.60 CN¥406.32	+54.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.25 CA$14.13	$8.41 CN¥59.34	-17.9%
Average			-23.9%

London vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.8% less for clothing

	London	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.27 CA$76.16	$46.70 CN¥329.48	-15.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.96 CA$61.96	$37.62 CN¥265.42	-16.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.13 CA$117.31	$72.33 CN¥510.26	-15.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$76.14 CA$104.92	$109.50 CN¥772.50	+43.8%
Average			-0.8%

London vs. Shanghai - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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