Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Germany

Cologne vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Cologne is 72.4% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 3.6 times more in Cologne
Groceries: pay 44.0% more in Cologne
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in Cologne
Housing: pay 71.4% more in Cologne
Childcare: pay 21.8% less in Cologne
Entertainment and Sports: pay 62.9% more in Cologne
Clothing: pay 32.7% more in Cologne

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

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Cologne vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.6 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Cologne
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.86	$16.80 €14.99	+275.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.84	$11.76 €10.49	+125.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$3.78 €3.37	+530.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$3.18 €2.84	+759.7%
Average			+259.2%

Shanghai vs. Cologne - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.0% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Cologne
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.18	$2.52 €2.25	+27.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.38	$6.27 €5.60	-27.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.90	$4.91 €4.38	-28.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$3.67 €3.27	+116.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.86	$5.55 €4.95	+275.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$1.35 €1.21	+36.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$0.89 €0.80	+16.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$1.15 €1.03	+27.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.13	$1.76 €1.58	+129.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$0.65 €0.58	+81.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$0.53 €0.47	+22.6%
Average			+44.0%

Shanghai vs. Cologne - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Shanghai	Cologne
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$8.66 €7.73	+74.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.09	$70.54 €62.96	+136.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$32,914.63 €29,377.56	+69.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$26.99 €24.09	+376.1%
Average			+106.5%

Shanghai vs. Cologne - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.4% more for housing

	Shanghai	Cologne
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.41	$36.81 €32.86	+248.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,920.65	$1,198.58 €1,069.78	+15.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.04	$894.26 €798.16	+51.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.03	$234.73 €209.51	+432.8%
Average			+71.4%

Shanghai vs. Cologne - Cost of housing

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pay 21.8% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Cologne
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,433.67	$1,093.36 €975.86	-22.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$21,915.46 €19,560.38	-20.8%
Average			-21.8%

Shanghai vs. Cologne - Cost of childcare

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pay 62.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Cologne
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$5.60 €5.00	+369.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$4.11 €3.67	+22.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$9.74 €8.69	+161.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.41	$44.32 €39.56	-32.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.73	$15.68 €13.99	+75.2%
Average			+62.9%

Shanghai vs. Cologne - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.7% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Cologne
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.87	$89.23 €79.64	+64.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.57	$41.14 €36.72	+10.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.82	$100.53 €89.72	+33.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.47	$135.12 €120.60	+27.8%
Average			+32.7%

Shanghai vs. Cologne - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Shanghai is about 16 times bigger than Cologne.

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