Cost of living comparison

Equatorial Guinea

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Malabo Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 62.2% more expensive than Malabo.

Restaurants: pay 40.1% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 14.8% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 21.0% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 81.1 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.1% more in Shanghai

The cost of childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports in Shanghai are more expensive than in Malabo. Expenses including restaurants, transportation, and groceries are lower in Shanghai. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in Shanghai.

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Shanghai vs. Malabo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 40.1% less for restaurants

	Malabo	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.54 FCFA4,983	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-47.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.54 FCFA4,983	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-38.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 FCFA498	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-29.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 FCFA249	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-13.3%
Average			-40.1%

Malabo vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.8% less for groceries

	Malabo	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.98 CN¥13.22
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.37 FCFA1,966	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+155.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.34 FCFA6,036	$6.88 CN¥46.02	-33.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 FCFA2,193	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-54.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 FCFA1,583	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-45.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 FCFA633	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-8.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 FCFA452	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-0.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$0.90 CN¥6.05
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.77 CN¥5.15
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.36 CN¥2.40
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.43 CN¥2.90
Average			-14.8%

Malabo vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.0% less for transportation

	Malabo	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$4.96 CN¥33.21
Monthly public transit pass	$26.40 FCFA15,411	$29.83 CN¥199.59	+13.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,056.06 FCFA19M	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-41.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$5.67 CN¥37.92
Average			-21.0%

Malabo vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Malabo	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$10.55 CN¥70.59
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$223.95 FCFA131K	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+162.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$44.06 CN¥294.77
Average			+162.9%

Malabo vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 81.1 times more for childcare

	Malabo	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$341.40 FCFA199K	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+8009.5%
Average			+8009.5%

Malabo vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Malabo	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.71 FCFA997	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-30.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.69 FCFA2,741	$3.35 CN¥22.41	-28.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.52 FCFA2,639	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-17.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.14 FCFA19,932	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+92.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.39 FCFA3,146	$8.95 CN¥59.88	+66.1%
Average			+14.1%

Malabo vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Malabo	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$54.37 CN¥363.79
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$37.09 CN¥248.19
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$75.49 CN¥505.08
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$105.70 CN¥707.25

Malabo 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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