Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

China

Beijing vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 29.9% cheaper than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 53.3% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 6.3% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 17.0% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 39.3% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 13.9% less in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.1% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 35.3% less in Beijing

Expenses including restaurants, housing, clothing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and childcare are lower in Beijing.

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Beijing vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Moscow, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 53.3% less for restaurants

	Moscow	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB996.18	$4.47 CN¥29.95	-61.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB597.71	$5.22 CN¥34.94	-25.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB137.76	$0.52 CN¥3.49	-67.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB71.18	$0.27 CN¥1.82	-67.4%
Average			-53.3%

Moscow vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.3% less for groceries

	Moscow	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB86.67	$1.73 CN¥11.56	+69.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB607.83	$7.22 CN¥48.29	+1.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB392.86	$6.41 CN¥42.89	+38.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB158.76	$2.02 CN¥13.53	+8.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB254.08	$1.47 CN¥9.81	-50.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB79.37	$0.93 CN¥6.25	+0.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB69.29	$0.79 CN¥5.28	-3.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB76.80	$0.93 CN¥6.21	+2.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB152.11	$0.71 CN¥4.76	-60.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB34.61	$0.32 CN¥2.15	-20.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB27.55	$0.40 CN¥2.66	+22.7%
Average			-6.3%

Moscow vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.0% less for transportation

	Moscow	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB282.00	$4.96 CN¥33.20	+49.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,461.72	$34.30 CN¥229.59	-15.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-50.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB856.71	$4.68 CN¥31.34	-53.4%
Average			-17.0%

Moscow vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.3% less for housing

	Moscow	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB841.41	$14.27 CN¥95.50	+44.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB124K	$936.67 CN¥6,268.85	-35.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB68,502.01	$530.98 CN¥3,553.68	-34.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB12,164.72	$44.49 CN¥297.74	-68.9%
Average			-39.3%

Moscow vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 13.9% less for childcare

	Moscow	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB68,893.70	$653.29 CN¥4,372.25	-19.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$24,281.96 CN¥163K	-8.1%
Average			-13.9%

Moscow vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB398.47	$1.19 CN¥7.99	-74.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB315.01	$3.60 CN¥24.09	-2.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB293.87	$4.33 CN¥28.95	+25.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,577.71	$41.45 CN¥277.40	-1.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB796.94	$7.46 CN¥49.91	-20.3%
Average			-27.1%

Moscow vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 35.3% less for clothing

	Moscow	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB9,236.82	$70.55 CN¥472.16	-35.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,319.60	$40.41 CN¥270.44	-35.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB12,373.98	$86.99 CN¥582.17	-40.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB15,345.00	$125.40 CN¥839.26	-30.4%
Average			-35.3%

Moscow vs. Beijing - 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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