Cost of living comparison

Italy

compared to

China

Beijing vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 38.9% cheaper than Rome.

Restaurants: pay 70.0% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 35.7% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 41.2% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 41.2% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 39.0% more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.3% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 3.9% more in Beijing

The cost of childcare and clothing in Beijing are more expensive than in Rome. Expenses including restaurants, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Beijing.

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Beijing vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Rome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 70.0% less for restaurants

	Rome	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-73.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-53.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.96 €2.63	$0.52 CN¥3.49	-82.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.48 €1.32	$0.27 CN¥1.82	-81.6%
Average			-70.0%

Rome vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.7% less for groceries

	Rome	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$2.22 €1.98	$1.73 CN¥11.56	-22.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.42 €6.61	$7.22 CN¥48.28	-2.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.49 €5.77	$6.41 CN¥42.88	-1.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.66 €4.15	$2.02 CN¥13.53	-56.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.66 €5.03	$1.47 CN¥9.81	-74.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 €1.04	$0.93 CN¥6.25	-20.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 €0.94	$0.79 CN¥5.28	-25.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.97	$0.93 CN¥6.21	-14.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.96	$0.71 CN¥4.75	-33.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 €0.57	$0.32 CN¥2.15	-50.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72 €0.64	$0.40 CN¥2.66	-44.6%
Average			-35.7%

Rome vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.2% less for transportation

	Rome	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.04 €7.16	$4.96 CN¥33.20	-38.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.19 €34.88	$34.30 CN¥229.53	-12.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,551.60 €31,642.21	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-45.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.16 €17.94	$4.68 CN¥31.34	-76.8%
Average			-41.2%

Rome vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.2% less for housing

	Rome	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.87 €28.36	$14.27 CN¥95.47	-55.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,208.81 €1,075.88	$936.67 CN¥6,267.07	-22.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$873.39 €777.35	$530.98 CN¥3,552.67	-39.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$157.13 €139.85	$44.49 CN¥297.65	-71.7%
Average			-41.2%

Rome vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 39.0% more for childcare

	Rome	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$487.21 €433.63	$653.29 CN¥4,371.01	+34.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,862.20 €15,007.96	$24,281.96 CN¥162K	+44.0%
Average			+39.0%

Rome vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Rome	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-78.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 €1.84	$3.60 CN¥24.09	+74.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.28 €6.48	$4.33 CN¥28.94	-40.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.43 €58.24	$41.45 CN¥277.32	-36.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$7.46 CN¥49.90	-33.4%
Average			-37.3%

Rome vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.9% more for clothing

	Rome	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.31 €63.47	$70.55 CN¥472.03	-1.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.31 €32.32	$40.41 CN¥270.36	+11.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.63 €74.43	$86.99 CN¥582.00	+4.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.17 €109.63	$125.40 CN¥839.02	+1.8%
Average			+3.9%

Rome vs. Beijing - 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

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Rome is about 13 times smaller than Beijing.

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