Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Netherlands

Groningen vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Groningen is 85.1% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 4.3 times more in Groningen
Groceries: pay 66.0% more in Groningen
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Groningen
Housing: pay 75.2% more in Groningen
Childcare: pay 41.2% less in Groningen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 70.7% more in Groningen
Clothing: pay 56.3% more in Groningen

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

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Groningen vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.3 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Groningen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.87	$20.16 €18.08	+350.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.85	$15.68 €14.06	+200.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$3.85 €3.45	+541.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$3.14 €2.82	+749.3%
Average			+331.4%

Shanghai vs. Groningen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 66.0% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Groningen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.19	$2.59 €2.32	+30.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.39	$6.36 €5.71	-26.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.91	$5.51 €4.94	-19.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$4.59 €4.12	+170.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.87	$6.00 €5.38	+305.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$1.38 €1.23	+38.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$1.11 €1.00	+44.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$1.17 €1.05	+29.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$2.18 €1.96	+183.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$0.91 €0.82	+154.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$0.72 €0.65	+66.9%
Average			+66.0%

Shanghai vs. Groningen - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Shanghai	Groningen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$9.82 €8.81	+97.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.12	$67.18 €60.27	+125.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$41,419.02 €37,159.07	+113.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$28.22 €25.32	+397.9%
Average			+129.4%

Shanghai vs. Groningen - Cost of transportation

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pay 75.2% more for housing

	Shanghai	Groningen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.42	$49.67 €44.56	+370.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,921.79	$1,327.45 €1,190.92	+28.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.69	$917.85 €823.45	+55.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.08	$175.02 €157.02	+297.3%
Average			+75.2%

Shanghai vs. Groningen - Cost of housing

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pay 41.2% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Groningen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,435.22	$1,761.48 €1,580.32	+24.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$7,688.85 €6,898.05	-72.2%
Average			-41.2%

Shanghai vs. Groningen - Cost of childcare

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pay 70.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Groningen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$5.60 €5.02	+369.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$4.55 €4.08	+35.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$14.56 €13.06	+290.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.48	$39.19 €35.16	-40.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.74	$16.80 €15.07	+87.7%
Average			+70.7%

Shanghai vs. Groningen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 56.3% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Groningen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.93	$106.20 €95.28	+95.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.61	$44.80 €40.20	+20.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.90	$103.03 €92.43	+36.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.59	$195.92 €175.77	+85.4%
Average			+56.3%

Shanghai vs. Groningen - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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