Cost of living comparison

Nigeria

compared to

China

China vs. Nigeria Cost of Living Summary

China is 13.8% more expensive than Nigeria overall.

Restaurants: pay 19.5% more in China
Groceries: pay 1.4% more in China
Transportation: pay 21.7% more in China
Housing: pay 19.8% less in China
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in China
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.9% more in China
Clothing: pay 2.2 times more in China

The cost of childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in China are more expensive than in Nigeria. Notably, childcare and clothing are significantly more expensive in China.

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China vs. Nigeria Cost Breakdown

If you lived in China instead of Nigeria, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.5% more for restaurants

	Nigeria	China
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.19 NGN2,908.76	$3.02 CN¥20.18	+38.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.09 NGN6,780.76	$5.16 CN¥34.52	+1.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 NGN473.34	$0.51 CN¥3.39	+42.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 NGN419.49	$0.29 CN¥1.97	-6.4%
Average			+19.5%

Nigeria vs. China - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.4% more for groceries

	Nigeria	China
Bread 1 loaf	$0.95 NGN1,262.10	$1.66 CN¥11.09	+74.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.24 NGN2,979.24	$6.71 CN¥44.88	+199.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.26 NGN12,329.33	$6.65 CN¥44.53	-28.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.49 NGN1,978.89	$1.57 CN¥10.47	+5.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.76 NGN2,340.96	$1.52 CN¥10.14	-13.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 NGN1,167.11	$0.83 CN¥5.55	-5.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.66 NGN872.87	$0.59 CN¥3.92	-10.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.53 NGN709.16	$0.67 CN¥4.46	+25.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.67 NGN890.29	$0.58 CN¥3.90	-12.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 NGN819.78	$0.33 CN¥2.18	-47.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NGN763.60	$0.40 CN¥2.67	-30.4%
Average			+1.4%

Nigeria vs. China - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.7% more for transportation

	Nigeria	China
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.41 NGN3,205.09	$4.77 CN¥31.92	+98.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.22 NGN28,254.69	$20.77 CN¥138.99	-2.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,156.84 NGN24M	$18,838.53 CN¥126K	+3.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.88 NGN9,164.43	$4.24 CN¥28.39	-38.4%
Average			+21.7%

Nigeria vs. China - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.8% less for housing

	Nigeria	China
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.12 NGN24,120.18	$11.27 CN¥75.42	-37.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$372.59 NGN496K	$336.09 CN¥2,248.74	-9.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$284.75 NGN379K	$212.64 CN¥1,422.74	-25.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.52 NGN73,907.84	$42.92 CN¥287.14	-22.7%
Average			-19.8%

Nigeria vs. China - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Nigeria	China
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$219.45 NGN292K	$500.54 CN¥3,348.99	+128.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,089.03 NGN5M	$18,908.16 CN¥127K	+362.4%
Average			+224.8%

Nigeria vs. China - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Nigeria	China
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.74 NGN982.05	$1.12 CN¥7.52	+52.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.31 NGN3,070.30	$2.84 CN¥19.00	+23.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.13 NGN1,506.57	$3.71 CN¥24.79	+227.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$19.01 NGN25,311.31	$41.75 CN¥279.37	+119.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.40 NGN5,854.04	$6.28 CN¥41.99	+42.7%
Average			+69.9%

Nigeria vs. China - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.2 times more for clothing

	Nigeria	China
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$13.41 NGN17,851.33	$46.40 CN¥310.43	+246.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.94 NGN27,874.19	$33.97 CN¥227.29	+62.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.35 NGN45,733.44	$73.79 CN¥493.72	+114.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$40.18 NGN53,488.77	$78.93 CN¥528.10	+96.4%
Average			+120.6%

Nigeria vs. China - 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: Nigeria vs. China

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Make 11.3 times more money in China

Size Comparison · See true size

Nigeria is about 10 times smaller than China.

Moving from Nigeria to China · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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