Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Malta

San Pawl Il-bahar vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

San Pawl Il-bahar is 30.3% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 3.5 times more in San Pawl Il-bahar
Groceries: pay 29.2% more in San Pawl Il-bahar
Transportation: pay 68.3% more in San Pawl Il-bahar
Housing: pay 21.8% more in San Pawl Il-bahar
Childcare: pay 67.7% less in San Pawl Il-bahar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.2% more in San Pawl Il-bahar
Clothing: pay 23.9% less in San Pawl Il-bahar

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

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San Pawl Il-bahar vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Pawl Il-bahar instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.5 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	San Pawl Il-bahar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.87	$19.60 €17.58	+337.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.85	$11.20 €10.05	+114.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$2.46 €2.21	+310.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$2.02 €1.81	+444.9%
Average			+246.4%

Shanghai vs. San Pawl Il-bahar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.2% more for groceries

	Shanghai	San Pawl Il-bahar
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.19	$1.19 €1.07	-39.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.39	$4.13 €3.70	-52.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.91	$5.14 €4.61	-25.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$3.55 €3.19	+109.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.87	$3.56 €3.19	+140.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$1.37 €1.23	+38.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$0.94 €0.84	+21.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$1.32 €1.18	+46.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$1.27 €1.14	+65.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$0.71 €0.64	+98.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$0.83 €0.74	+90.5%
Average			+29.2%

Shanghai vs. San Pawl Il-bahar - Cost of groceries

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pay 68.3% more for transportation

	Shanghai	San Pawl Il-bahar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$5.68 €5.10	+14.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.12	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$37,847.06 €33,954.49	+95.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$23.51 €21.10	+314.9%
Average			+68.3%

Shanghai vs. San Pawl Il-bahar - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.8% more for housing

	Shanghai	San Pawl Il-bahar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.42	$40.31 €36.16	+282.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,921.79	$979.77 €879.00	-5.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.69	$858.46 €770.17	+45.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.08	$44.53 €39.95	+1.1%
Average			+21.8%

Shanghai vs. San Pawl Il-bahar - Cost of housing

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pay 67.7% less for childcare

	Shanghai	San Pawl Il-bahar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,435.22	$367.05 €329.30	-74.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$11,132.13 €9,987.19	-59.8%
Average			-67.7%

Shanghai vs. San Pawl Il-bahar - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	San Pawl Il-bahar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$4.48 €4.02	+275.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$2.58 €2.31	-23.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$6.33 €5.68	+69.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.48	$50.39 €45.21	-23.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.74	$9.94 €8.92	+11.0%
Average			+25.2%

Shanghai vs. San Pawl Il-bahar - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.9% less for clothing

	Shanghai	San Pawl Il-bahar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.93	$22.39 €20.09	-58.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.61	$33.22 €29.80	-10.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.90	$97.04 €87.06	+28.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.59	$74.65 €66.97	-29.4%
Average			-23.9%

Shanghai vs. San Pawl Il-bahar - 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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