Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iceland vs. Netherlands Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 34.4% more expensive than Netherlands overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.5% more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 44.8% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 4.2% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 33.5% more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 53.8% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 38.2% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 52.0% more in Iceland

The cost of childcare, clothing, groceries, entertainment and sports, housing, and restaurants in Iceland are more expensive than in Netherlands.

Iceland vs. Netherlands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iceland instead of Netherlands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.5% more for restaurants

	Netherlands	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$21.66 €18.69	$26.52 ISK3,296	+22.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.94 €12.03	$21.32 ISK2,649	+52.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.53 €3.05	$3.11 ISK386	-12.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.87 €2.48	$2.72 ISK338	-5.4%
Average			+14.5%

Netherlands vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.8% more for groceries

	Netherlands	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$2.15 €1.86	$3.80 ISK473	+76.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.70 €5.78	$9.44 ISK1,173	+40.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.86 €4.19	$7.78 ISK967	+60.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.76 €4.11	$6.71 ISK834	+41.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$7.31 €6.30	$11.22 ISK1,394	+53.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.05 €0.91	$1.50 ISK186	+42.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.13 €0.98	$1.15 ISK142	+1.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 €0.77	$1.41 ISK176	+57.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.84 €1.59	$2.34 ISK291	+27.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 €0.82	$1.65 ISK205	+74.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.92 €0.80	$1.09 ISK136	+18.5%
Average			+44.8%

Netherlands vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.2% more for transportation

	Netherlands	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.56 €7.39	$9.65 ISK1,200	+12.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.86 €87.90	$79.56 ISK9,887	-21.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,970.03 €31,905.10	$49,144.25 ISK6M	+32.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.44 €23.68	$25.55 ISK3,176	-6.9%
Average			+4.2%

Netherlands vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.5% more for housing

	Netherlands	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.26 €42.51	$95.65 ISK11,886	+94.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,462.13 €1,261.82	$2,289.17 ISK284K	+56.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,216.44 €1,049.79	$1,830.04 ISK227K	+50.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$199.59 €172.24	$65.15 ISK8,096	-67.4%
Average			+33.5%

Netherlands vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 53.8% more for childcare

	Netherlands	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,911.60 €1,649.71	$334.67 ISK41,589	-82.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,591.36 €9,140.33	$30,711.08 ISK4M	+190.0%
Average			+53.8%

Netherlands vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 38.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Netherlands	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.49 €5.60	$11.14 ISK1,385	+71.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.17 €3.60	$5.62 ISK699	+34.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.74 €11.85	$13.90 ISK1,727	+1.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$43.55 €37.58	$78.17 ISK9,714	+79.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.09 €13.88	$16.75 ISK2,082	+4.1%
Average			+38.2%

Netherlands vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 52.0% more for clothing

	Netherlands	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$94.61 €81.65	$130.91 ISK16,268	+38.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.24 €39.04	$61.83 ISK7,684	+36.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.29 €90.00	$163.81 ISK20,357	+57.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$135.17 €116.65	$237.31 ISK29,491	+75.6%
Average			+52.0%

Netherlands vs. Iceland - 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

Compare further: Netherlands vs. Iceland

Quality of Life Comparison · 9 statistics

Be 39.3% less likely to live below the poverty line in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

Netherlands is about 2.5 times smaller than Iceland.

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