Cost of living comparison

compared to

China vs. New Zealand Cost of Living Summary

China is 44.5% cheaper than New Zealand overall.

Restaurants: pay 72.2% less in China
Groceries: pay 36.0% less in China
Transportation: pay 50.5% less in China
Housing: pay 69.8% less in China
Childcare: pay 11.8% less in China
Entertainment and Sports: pay 43.8% less in China
Clothing: pay 27.7% less in China

Expenses including restaurants, housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, groceries, and clothing are lower in China.

China vs. New Zealand Cost Breakdown

If you lived in China instead of New Zealand, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 72.2% less for restaurants

	New Zealand	China
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.45 NZ$25.19	$2.90 CN¥20.50	-79.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.14 NZ$15.93	$5.02 CN¥35.49	-45.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.11 NZ$3.68	$0.47 CN¥3.36	-77.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.02 NZ$3.52	$0.28 CN¥1.96	-86.3%
Average			-72.2%

New Zealand vs. China - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 36.0% less for groceries

	New Zealand	China
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 NZ$3.03	$1.63 CN¥11.52	-6.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 NZ$6.77	$6.32 CN¥44.71	+62.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.34 NZ$11.05	$6.70 CN¥47.44	+5.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.96 NZ$10.39	$1.56 CN¥11.05	-73.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.01 NZ$6.99	$1.52 CN¥10.78	-62.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 NZ$2.06	$0.74 CN¥5.25	-37.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.66	$0.55 CN¥3.86	-42.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.29 NZ$2.26	$0.62 CN¥4.41	-51.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.11 NZ$3.68	$0.50 CN¥3.57	-76.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 NZ$1.48	$0.30 CN¥2.13	-64.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 NZ$1.39	$0.39 CN¥2.79	-50.5%
Average			-36.0%

New Zealand vs. China - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 50.5% less for transportation

	New Zealand	China
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.08 NZ$10.60	$4.34 CN¥30.68	-28.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$74.52 NZ$129.96	$20.32 CN¥143.78	-72.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,777.66 NZ$43,211.84	$19,143.98 CN¥135,449.43	-22.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.81 NZ$31.06	$3.94 CN¥27.89	-77.9%
Average			-50.5%

New Zealand vs. China - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.8% less for housing

	New Zealand	China
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$50.00 NZ$87.19	$11.18 CN¥79.08	-77.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$978.36 NZ$1,706.24	$304.90 CN¥2,157.22	-68.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$810.06 NZ$1,412.73	$195.65 CN¥1,384.25	-75.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$95.66 NZ$166.83	$41.04 CN¥290.39	-57.1%
Average			-69.8%

New Zealand vs. China - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.8% less for childcare

	New Zealand	China
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$635.34 NZ$1,108.03	$390.25 CN¥2,761.13	-38.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,463.91 NZ$23,480.84	$15,493.57 CN¥109,621.66	+15.1%
Average			-11.8%

New Zealand vs. China - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 43.8% less for entertainment and sports

	New Zealand	China
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.04 NZ$10.54	$1.04 CN¥7.37	-82.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 NZ$5.85	$2.84 CN¥20.07	-15.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$23.12 NZ$40.33	$3.36 CN¥23.77	-85.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.72 NZ$65.79	$41.13 CN¥290.99	+9.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.72 NZ$18.69	$5.98 CN¥42.33	-44.2%
Average			-43.8%

New Zealand vs. China - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.7% less for clothing

	New Zealand	China
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.22 NZ$113.75	$45.93 CN¥324.95	-29.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.23 NZ$68.42	$30.93 CN¥218.85	-21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.28 NZ$157.45	$71.26 CN¥504.18	-21.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.43 NZ$208.28	$72.88 CN¥515.65	-39.0%
Average			-27.7%

New Zealand vs. China - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: December 2025

More cost comparisons

New Zealand vs.

Egypt

New Zealand vs.

Canada

New Zealand vs.

Germany

New Zealand vs.

Ukraine

New Zealand vs.

Austria

New Zealand vs.

France

New Zealand vs.

Thailand

New Zealand vs.

United Kingdom

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Wellington vs. Beijing

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for New Zealand

Add prices for China

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about China or New Zealand. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.