Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

China

China vs. Malaysia Cost of Living Summary

China is 7.9% cheaper than Malaysia overall.

Restaurants: pay 9.1% less in China
Groceries: pay 21.5% less in China
Transportation: pay 0.6% less in China
Housing: pay 13.1% less in China
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in China
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.3% less in China
Clothing: pay 3.9% less in China

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

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China vs. Malaysia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in China instead of Malaysia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.1% less for restaurants

	Malaysia	China
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.42 MYR13.98	$3.02 CN¥20.18	-11.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.64 MYR18.95	$5.16 CN¥34.52	+11.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 MYR3.07	$0.51 CN¥3.39	-32.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 MYR1.72	$0.29 CN¥1.97	-30.1%
Average			-9.1%

Malaysia vs. China - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.5% less for groceries

	Malaysia	China
Bread 1 loaf	$1.10 MYR4.49	$1.66 CN¥11.09	+50.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.94 MYR28.32	$6.71 CN¥44.88	-3.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.18 MYR29.31	$6.65 CN¥44.53	-7.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.09 MYR8.53	$1.57 CN¥10.47	-25.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.90 MYR7.75	$1.52 CN¥10.14	-20.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 MYR5.53	$0.83 CN¥5.55	-38.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 MYR2.97	$0.59 CN¥3.92	-19.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 MYR4.84	$0.67 CN¥4.46	-43.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 MYR2.83	$0.58 CN¥3.90	-16.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 MYR2.34	$0.33 CN¥2.18	-42.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.61 MYR2.50	$0.40 CN¥2.67	-34.6%
Average			-21.5%

Malaysia vs. China - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.6% less for transportation

	Malaysia	China
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.76 MYR11.29	$4.77 CN¥31.92	+72.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.28 MYR62.39	$20.77 CN¥138.99	+36.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,802.19 MYR167K	$18,838.53 CN¥126K	-53.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.46 MYR26.37	$4.24 CN¥28.39	-34.3%
Average			-0.6%

Malaysia vs. China - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.1% less for housing

	Malaysia	China
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.60 MYR112.71	$11.27 CN¥75.42	-59.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$363.41 MYR1,483.90	$336.09 CN¥2,248.74	-7.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$265.07 MYR1,082.35	$212.64 CN¥1,422.74	-19.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$36.69 MYR149.79	$42.92 CN¥287.14	+17.0%
Average			-13.1%

Malaysia vs. China - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Malaysia	China
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$231.07 MYR943.51	$500.54 CN¥3,348.99	+116.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,043.53 MYR32,843.35	$18,908.16 CN¥127K	+135.1%
Average			+125.7%

Malaysia vs. China - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Malaysia	China
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.61 MYR14.73	$1.12 CN¥7.52	-68.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 MYR11.29	$2.84 CN¥19.00	+2.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.35 MYR17.74	$3.71 CN¥24.79	-14.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.82 MYR158.52	$41.75 CN¥279.37	+7.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.73 MYR19.31	$6.28 CN¥41.99	+32.7%
Average			-14.3%

Malaysia vs. China - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.9% less for clothing

	Malaysia	China
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.43 MYR238.60	$46.40 CN¥310.43	-20.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.42 MYR124.22	$33.97 CN¥227.29	+11.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.72 MYR317.35	$73.79 CN¥493.72	-5.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$77.79 MYR317.65	$78.93 CN¥528.10	+1.5%
Average			-3.9%

Malaysia vs. China - 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: Malaysia vs. China

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Be 22.9% more likely to be unemployed in China

Size Comparison · See true size

Malaysia is about 29 times smaller than China.

Moving from Malaysia to China · UN DESA 2020

4,753 people born in Malaysia live in China.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Kuala Lumpur vs Shanghai

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