Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Moldova

Chisinau vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Chisinau is 4.4% cheaper than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Chisinau
Groceries: pay 17.3% less in Chisinau
Transportation: pay 0.5% more in Chisinau
Housing: pay 7.1% less in Chisinau
Childcare: pay 74.5% less in Chisinau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.4% less in Chisinau
Clothing: pay 32.5% more in Chisinau

The cost of restaurants, clothing, and transportation in Chisinau are more expensive than in Shanghai. Expenses including childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in Chisinau. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Chisinau.

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Chisinau vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Chisinau instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Chisinau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$11.22 MDL201.58	+150.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$8.70 MDL156.22	+66.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.21 MDL21.71	+101.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.89 MDL16.00	+140.8%
Average			+111.7%

Shanghai vs. Chisinau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.3% less for groceries

	Shanghai	Chisinau
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$0.71 MDL12.77	-64.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$4.89 MDL87.82	-43.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$4.73 MDL85.03	-31.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.79 MDL50.06	+64.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$2.36 MDL42.34	+59.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$0.44 MDL7.87	-55.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.87 MDL15.68	+13.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.94 MDL16.87	+3.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$1.01 MDL18.06	+30.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.31 MDL5.61	-12.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.25 MDL4.42	-43.2%
Average			-17.3%

Shanghai vs. Chisinau - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.5% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Chisinau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$6.44 MDL115.64	+29.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$13.52 MDL242.90	-54.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$29,507.41 MDL530K	+52.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$4.94 MDL88.69	-12.9%
Average			+0.5%

Shanghai vs. Chisinau - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.1% less for housing

	Shanghai	Chisinau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$10.59 MDL190.33	+0.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$679.74 MDL12,212.58	-34.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$435.34 MDL7,821.60	-26.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$185.85 MDL3,339.13	+321.9%
Average			-7.1%

Shanghai vs. Chisinau - Cost of housing

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pay 74.5% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Chisinau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$434.06 MDL7,798.47	-69.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$5,841.67 MDL105K	-78.9%
Average			-74.5%

Shanghai vs. Chisinau - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Chisinau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$2.24 MDL40.32	+88.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$2.16 MDL38.87	-35.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$3.42 MDL61.48	-8.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$41.67 MDL748.71	-36.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$8.41 MDL151.18	-6.0%
Average			-9.4%

Shanghai vs. Chisinau - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.5% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Chisinau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$79.80 MDL1,433.71	+46.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$47.07 MDL845.61	+26.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$114.14 MDL2,050.64	+51.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$115.56 MDL2,076.23	+9.3%
Average			+32.5%

Shanghai vs. Chisinau - 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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