Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Mongolia Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 13.6% more expensive than Mongolia overall.

Restaurants: pay 11.7% more in Japan
Groceries: pay 34.0% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 49.8% more in Japan
Housing: pay 5.7% more in Japan
Childcare: pay 16.5% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.2% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 44.1% less in Japan

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

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Japan vs. Mongolia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of Mongolia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.7% more for restaurants

	Mongolia	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$6.75 ¥1,059	+21.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$5.10 ¥800	-8.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$1.13 ¥178	+32.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$0.76 ¥119	+28.3%
Average			+11.7%

Mongolia vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.0% more for groceries

	Mongolia	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$1.53 ¥239	+53.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$5.55 ¥871	-10.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$5.56 ¥873	+1.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$2.01 ¥315	-4.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$2.85 ¥447	+28.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$2.16 ¥339	+55.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$1.08 ¥170	-0.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$1.54 ¥241	-9.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$1.92 ¥301	+39.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$1.10 ¥173	+233.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$1.08 ¥169	+123.7%
Average			+34.0%

Mongolia vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 49.8% more for transportation

	Mongolia	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$4.11 ¥644	-4.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$63.20 ¥9,914	+279.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$21,047.50 ¥3M	-21.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$24.65 ¥3,866	+406.9%
Average			+49.8%

Mongolia vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.7% more for housing

	Mongolia	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$33.54 ¥5,261	+146.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$546.58 ¥85,739	-4.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$360.78 ¥56,593	-18.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$113.26 ¥17,767	+108.3%
Average			+5.7%

Mongolia vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 16.5% less for childcare

	Mongolia	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$417.01 ¥65,413	-49.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$11,300.14 ¥2M	+36.8%
Average			-16.5%

Mongolia vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Mongolia	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$2.57 ¥403	+8.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$3.06 ¥479	+26.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$3.83 ¥600	+127.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$53.31 ¥8,363	-21.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$11.73 ¥1,840	+181.4%
Average			+41.2%

Mongolia vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 44.1% less for clothing

	Mongolia	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$46.32 ¥7,267	-43.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$31.33 ¥4,914	-31.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$59.45 ¥9,325	-42.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$81.04 ¥12,712	-56.8%
Average			-44.1%

Mongolia vs. Japan - 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: Mongolia vs. Japan

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 5.1 times more money in Japan

Size Comparison · See true size

Mongolia is about 4.1 times bigger than Japan.

Moving from Mongolia to Japan · OECD 2023

6,094 people moved from Mongolia to Japan.

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