Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iceland vs. New Zealand Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 64.0% more expensive than New Zealand overall.

Restaurants: pay 74.8% more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 61.4% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 51.9% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 79.8% more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 40.4% more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 55.2% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 84.6% more in Iceland

The cost of clothing, housing, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Iceland are more expensive than in New Zealand. Notably, clothing and housing are significantly more expensive in Iceland.

Iceland vs. New Zealand Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 74.8% more for restaurants

	New Zealand	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.45 NZ$24.74	$26.52 ISK3,296	+83.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.14 NZ$15.65	$21.32 ISK2,649	+133.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.11 NZ$3.61	$3.11 ISK386	+47.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.02 NZ$3.45	$2.72 ISK338	+34.9%
Average			+74.8%

New Zealand vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 61.4% more for groceries

	New Zealand	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 NZ$2.98	$3.80 ISK473	+118.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.88 NZ$6.65	$9.44 ISK1,173	+143.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.34 NZ$10.85	$7.78 ISK967	+22.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.96 NZ$10.20	$6.71 ISK834	+12.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.01 NZ$6.86	$11.22 ISK1,394	+180.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.18 NZ$2.02	$1.50 ISK186	+26.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.63	$1.15 ISK142	+20.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.29 NZ$2.22	$1.41 ISK176	+9.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.11 NZ$3.61	$2.34 ISK291	+10.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 NZ$1.46	$1.65 ISK205	+93.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 NZ$1.37	$1.09 ISK136	+37.2%
Average			+61.4%

New Zealand vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 51.9% more for transportation

	New Zealand	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.08 NZ$10.41	$9.65 ISK1,200	+58.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$74.52 NZ$127.62	$79.56 ISK9,887	+6.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,777.66 NZ$42,434.78	$49,144.25 ISK6M	+98.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.81 NZ$30.50	$25.55 ISK3,176	+43.5%
Average			+51.9%

New Zealand vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 79.8% more for housing

	New Zealand	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$50.00 NZ$85.62	$95.65 ISK11,886	+91.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$978.36 NZ$1,675.56	$2,289.17 ISK284K	+134.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$810.06 NZ$1,387.33	$1,830.04 ISK227K	+125.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$95.66 NZ$163.83	$65.15 ISK8,096	-31.9%
Average			+79.8%

New Zealand vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 40.4% more for childcare

	New Zealand	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$635.34 NZ$1,088.11	$334.67 ISK41,589	-47.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,463.91 NZ$23,058.60	$30,711.08 ISK4M	+128.1%
Average			+40.4%

New Zealand vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 55.2% more for entertainment and sports

	New Zealand	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.04 NZ$10.35	$11.14 ISK1,385	+84.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 NZ$5.74	$5.62 ISK699	+67.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$23.12 NZ$39.60	$13.90 ISK1,727	-39.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.72 NZ$64.60	$78.17 ISK9,714	+107.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.72 NZ$18.36	$16.75 ISK2,082	+56.3%
Average			+55.2%

New Zealand vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 84.6% more for clothing

	New Zealand	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.22 NZ$111.70	$130.91 ISK16,268	+100.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.23 NZ$67.19	$61.83 ISK7,684	+57.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.28 NZ$154.62	$163.81 ISK20,357	+81.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.43 NZ$204.54	$237.31 ISK29,491	+98.7%
Average			+84.6%

New Zealand 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: New Zealand vs. Iceland

Quality of Life Comparison · 8 statistics

Make 36.3% more money in Iceland

Size Comparison · See true size

New Zealand is about 2.6 times bigger than Iceland.

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