Cost of living comparison

Philippines

compared to

Japan

Japan vs. Philippines Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 70.8% more expensive than Philippines overall.

Restaurants: pay 72.4% more in Japan
Groceries: pay 42.4% more in Japan
Transportation: pay 82.3% more in Japan
Housing: pay 90.1% more in Japan
Childcare: pay 2.0 times more in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 80.6% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 20.0% more in Japan

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries in Japan are more expensive than in Philippines. Notably, childcare, housing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in Japan.

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Japan vs. Philippines Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of Philippines, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 72.4% more for restaurants

	Philippines	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.66 ₱232.69	$6.75 ¥1,059	+84.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.23 ₱205.26	$5.10 ¥800	+58.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 ₱46.19	$1.13 ¥178	+56.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.40 ₱25.31	$0.76 ¥119	+90.4%
Average			+72.4%

Philippines vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.4% more for groceries

	Philippines	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.15 ₱73.41	$1.53 ¥239	+32.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.30 ₱210.10	$5.55 ¥871	+68.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.50 ₱413.56	$5.56 ¥873	-14.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.97 ₱125.35	$2.01 ¥315	+2.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.82 ₱115.58	$2.85 ¥447	+56.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 ₱80.82	$2.16 ¥339	+70.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 ₱40.44	$1.08 ¥170	+70.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.14 ₱72.82	$1.54 ¥241	+34.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 ₱38.21	$1.92 ¥301	+219.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 ₱57.77	$1.10 ¥173	+21.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 ₱64.32	$1.08 ¥169	+6.4%
Average			+42.4%

Philippines vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 82.3% more for transportation

	Philippines	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.37 ₱277.83	$4.11 ¥644	-5.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.98 ₱825.54	$63.20 ¥9,914	+387.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,989.85 ₱1M	$21,047.50 ¥3M	+0.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.59 ₱164.70	$24.65 ¥3,866	+852.0%
Average			+82.3%

Philippines vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 90.1% more for housing

	Philippines	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.62 ₱1,629.64	$33.54 ¥5,261	+30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$267.48 ₱17,016.56	$546.58 ¥85,739	+104.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$170.01 ₱10,815.48	$360.78 ¥56,593	+112.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.57 ₱5,443.92	$113.26 ¥17,767	+32.4%
Average			+90.1%

Philippines vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 2.0 times more for childcare

	Philippines	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$162.60 ₱10,344.33	$417.01 ¥65,413	+156.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,174.58 ₱456K	$11,300.14 ¥2M	+57.5%
Average			+101.0%

Philippines vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 80.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Philippines	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.24 ₱78.77	$2.57 ¥403	+107.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.15 ₱136.85	$3.06 ¥479	+42.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.72 ₱172.91	$3.83 ¥600	+40.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.00 ₱1,908.68	$53.31 ¥8,363	+77.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.33 ₱339.31	$11.73 ¥1,840	+119.9%
Average			+80.6%

Philippines vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.0% more for clothing

	Philippines	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$37.72 ₱2,399.64	$46.32 ¥7,267	+22.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.70 ₱1,444.32	$31.33 ¥4,914	+38.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.85 ₱4,380.16	$59.45 ¥9,325	-13.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$57.10 ₱3,632.76	$81.04 ¥12,712	+41.9%
Average			+20.0%

Philippines vs. Japan - 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: Philippines vs. Japan

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 8.6 times more money in Japan

Size Comparison · See true size

Philippines is about 1.3 times smaller than Japan.

Moving from Philippines to Japan · OECD 2023

37,338 people moved from Philippines to Japan.

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