Cost of living comparison

Lesotho

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Maseru Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 2.4 times more expensive than Maseru.

Restaurants: pay 46.3% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 2.1% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 3.3% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 8.7 times more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 25.2 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 39.7% more in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 20.4% less in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Maseru Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 46.3% less for restaurants

	Maseru	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.01 LSL148.38	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-50.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.41 LSL138.49	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-37.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 LSL17.56	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-43.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 LSL13.85	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-56.0%
Average			-46.3%

Maseru vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1% less for groceries

	Maseru	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$0.83 LSL13.60	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+139.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.30 LSL54.39	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+160.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.38 LSL72.07	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+57.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.54 LSL25.32	$1.70 CN¥11.36	+10.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.79 LSL45.98	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-47.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 LSL14.02	$0.99 CN¥6.65	+16.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 LSL16.71	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-24.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.23 LSL20.19	$0.90 CN¥6.05	-26.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 LSL17.95	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-29.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 LSL11.66	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-49.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.73 LSL12.00	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-40.6%
Average			-2.1%

Maseru vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.3% less for transportation

	Maseru	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.98 LSL81.93	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-0.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.04 LSL494.60	$29.83 CN¥199.59	-0.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,030.86 LSL346K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-7.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.01 LSL98.92	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-5.7%
Average			-3.3%

Maseru vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.7 times more for housing

	Maseru	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.30 LSL630.53	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-72.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$93.14 LSL1,533.25	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+1013.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$55.58 LSL915.01	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+959.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$44.06 CN¥294.77
Average			+774.9%

Maseru vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 25.2 times more for childcare

	Maseru	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$52.06 LSL857.06	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+2615.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,181.73 LSL19,454.17	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+2242.8%
Average			+2422.1%

Maseru vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 39.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Maseru	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.80 LSL29.68	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-33.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 LSL32.97	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+67.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.11 LSL84.08	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-27.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.03 LSL379.19	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+185.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$8.95 CN¥59.88
Average			+39.7%

Maseru vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.4% less for clothing

	Maseru	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.07 LSL758.38	$54.37 CN¥363.79	+18.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.58 LSL915.01	$37.09 CN¥248.19	-33.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.15 LSL1,714.61	$75.49 CN¥505.08	-27.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.22 LSL2,472.99	$105.70 CN¥707.25	-29.6%
Average			-20.4%

Maseru 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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