Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kobe vs. London Cost of Living Summary

Kobe is 48.5% cheaper than London.

Restaurants: pay 66.7% less in Kobe
Groceries: pay 31.5% more in Kobe
Transportation: pay 55.7% less in Kobe
Housing: pay 59.0% less in Kobe
Childcare: pay 74.0% less in Kobe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.8% less in Kobe
Clothing: pay 60.6% less in Kobe

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, clothing, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Kobe.

Kobe vs. London Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 66.7% less for restaurants

	London	Kobe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$26.73 £19.99	$7.35 ¥1,145	-72.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.02 £8.24	$4.51 ¥703	-59.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.12 £2.33	$0.91 ¥142	-70.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.93 £1.44	$0.69 ¥107	-64.4%
Average			-66.7%

London vs. Kobe - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.5% more for groceries

	London	Kobe
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 £1.61	$1.20 ¥187	-44.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.54 £4.14	$6.68 ¥1,041	+20.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.58 £4.92	$6.11 ¥952	-7.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.02 £3.75	$1.60 ¥250	-68.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.95 £2.95	$3.09 ¥482	-21.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 £1.14	$2.75 ¥428	+80.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.62	$1.41 ¥220	+69.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 £1.07	$1.82 ¥283	+26.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 £1.23	$4.24 ¥661	+158.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 £0.57	$1.48 ¥230	+95.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.62	$1.14 ¥178	+37.5%
Average			+31.5%

London vs. Kobe - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 55.7% less for transportation

	London	Kobe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.12 £5.33	$4.43 ¥690	-37.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$240.54 £179.89	$36.75 ¥5,725	-84.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,798.76 £28,267.08	$21,189.94 ¥3,300,439	-43.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.75 £23.74	$13.82 ¥2,152	-56.5%
Average			-55.7%

London vs. Kobe - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.0% less for housing

	London	Kobe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.83 £32.03	$32.91 ¥5,126	-23.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$3,083.09 £2,305.63	$467.77 ¥72,857	-84.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,340.14 £1,750.03	$300.71 ¥46,837	-87.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$255.85 £191.33	$150.85 ¥23,496	-41.0%
Average			-59.0%

London vs. Kobe - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 74.0% less for childcare

	London	Kobe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,480.84 £1,855.25	$340.80 ¥53,082	-86.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,512.27 £21,322.36	$10,914.61 ¥1,700,005	-61.7%
Average			-74.0%

London vs. Kobe - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 54.8% less for entertainment and sports

	London	Kobe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.69 £6.50	$2.34 ¥364	-73.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.21 £3.90	$2.79 ¥435	-46.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.72 £16.99	$3.34 ¥520	-85.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.95 £48.57	$46.11 ¥7,182	-29.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.05 £14.99	$12.03 ¥1,873	-40.0%
Average			-54.8%

London vs. Kobe - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 60.6% less for clothing

	London	Kobe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$116.11 £86.83	$44.33 ¥6,904	-61.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.02 £38.90	$30.91 ¥4,814	-40.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$125.96 £94.20	$38.76 ¥6,037	-69.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$160.88 £120.31	$46.78 ¥7,286	-70.9%
Average			-60.6%

London vs. Kobe - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

London vs.

Dublin

London vs.

Bangkok

London vs.

Mexico City

London vs.

Cairo

London vs.

Hanoi

London vs.

Kiev

London vs.

Canberra

London vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in United Kingdom vs. Japan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within United Kingdom and Japan.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for London

Add prices for Kobe

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Kobe or London. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.