Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Solomon Islands

Honiara vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Honiara is 16.5% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Honiara
Groceries: pay 91.8% more in Honiara
Transportation: pay 1.1% more in Honiara
Housing: pay 25.4% more in Honiara
Childcare: pay 91.5% less in Honiara
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.0% less in Honiara
Clothing: pay 12.1% more in Honiara

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

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Honiara vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Honiara
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$6.82 SBD55.00	+52.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$12.40 SBD100.00	+137.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.55 SBD12.50	+158.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$1.08 SBD8.75	+193.3%
Average			+100.4%

Shanghai vs. Honiara - Cost of restaurants

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pay 91.8% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Honiara
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$1.50 SBD12.08	-24.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$3.27 SBD26.33	-62.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$9.62 SBD77.60	+39.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$5.60 SBD45.20	+230.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$3.87 SBD31.18	+161.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$2.85 SBD23.02	+187.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$1.20 SBD9.64	+55.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$3.88 SBD31.30	+329.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$1.69 SBD13.61	+119.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.89 SBD7.17	+148.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$1.55 SBD12.47	+257.0%
Average			+91.8%

Shanghai vs. Honiara - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.1% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Honiara
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$4.99 SBD40.27	+0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$24.80 SBD199.99	-16.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$18,598.79 SBD150K	-4.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$11.16 SBD90.00	+96.9%
Average			+1.1%

Shanghai vs. Honiara - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.4% more for housing

	Shanghai	Honiara
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$89.89 SBD724.96	+752.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$888.61 SBD7,166.32	-14.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$433.97 SBD3,499.83	-26.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$331.86 SBD2,676.34	+653.3%
Average			+25.4%

Shanghai vs. Honiara - Cost of housing

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pay 91.5% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Honiara
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$99.19 SBD799.96	-93.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$2,851.81 SBD22,998.88	-89.7%
Average			-91.5%

Shanghai vs. Honiara - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Honiara
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$2.48 SBD20.00	+107.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$3.41 SBD27.50	+1.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$4.15 SBD33.50	+11.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$37.20 SBD299.99	-43.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$4.34 SBD35.00	-51.5%
Average			-15.0%

Shanghai vs. Honiara - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.1% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Honiara
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$27.28 SBD219.99	-49.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$92.99 SBD749.96	+150.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$97.13 SBD783.30	+28.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$103.29 SBD832.96	-2.3%
Average			+12.1%

Shanghai vs. Honiara - 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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