Cost of living comparison

compared to

Shantou vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Shantou is 21.7% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 69.9% less in Shantou
Groceries: pay 32.1% less in Shantou
Transportation: pay 0.3% more in Shantou
Housing: pay 50.5% less in Shantou
Childcare: pay 52.4% more in Shantou
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.5% less in Shantou
Clothing: pay 26.9% less in Shantou

The cost of childcare and transportation in Shantou are more expensive than in Mexico City. Expenses including restaurants, housing, groceries, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Shantou.

Shantou vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shantou instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 69.9% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Shantou
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$193.23	$2.10 CN¥14.50	-80.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$157.00	$4.91 CN¥33.83	-44.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$30.82	$0.42 CN¥2.90	-75.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.21	$0.27 CN¥1.89	-79.0%
Average			-69.9%

Mexico City vs. Shantou - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.1% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Shantou
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$46.72	$1.40 CN¥9.67	-46.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$89.71	$6.11 CN¥42.12	+21.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$116.37	$6.37 CN¥43.91	-2.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$46.40	$1.84 CN¥12.69	-29.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$67.72	$1.69 CN¥11.64	-55.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.37	$0.82 CN¥5.69	-39.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.24	$0.62 CN¥4.29	-22.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.32	$0.75 CN¥5.20	-22.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.13	$0.56 CN¥3.87	-38.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.06	$0.37 CN¥2.53	-61.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$17.70	$0.44 CN¥3.04	-55.7%
Average			-32.1%

Mexico City vs. Shantou - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.3% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Shantou
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$91.44	$4.28 CN¥29.49	-16.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$347.81	$22.43 CN¥154.67	+14.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$357K	$21,024.30 CN¥145K	+5.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$78.75	$4.35 CN¥29.97	-1.8%
Average			+0.3%

Mexico City vs. Shantou - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.5% less for housing

	Mexico City	Shantou
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$550.55	$12.58 CN¥86.77	-59.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,206.67	$280.32 CN¥1,933.34	-74.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,053.62	$140.16 CN¥966.67	-79.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$664.96	$41.26 CN¥284.58	+10.4%
Average			-50.5%

Mexico City vs. Shantou - Cost of housing

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pay 52.4% more for childcare

	Mexico City	Shantou
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,660.03	$442.29 CN¥3,050.38	+2.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$194K	$22,005.44 CN¥152K	+101.9%
Average			+52.4%

Mexico City vs. Shantou - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Shantou
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$57.97	$0.84 CN¥5.80	-74.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$67.88	$3.19 CN¥22.03	-16.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$77.29	$3.50 CN¥24.17	-19.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,040.20	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$115.94	$7.01 CN¥48.33	+7.6%
Average			-25.5%

Mexico City vs. Shantou - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.9% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Shantou
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,084.70	$48.48 CN¥334.35	-20.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$855.67	$30.32 CN¥209.12	-36.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,881.61	$74.36 CN¥512.85	-29.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$1,973.98	$87.99 CN¥606.85	-20.7%
Average			-26.9%

Mexico City vs. Shantou - 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: March 2026

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