Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Sweden

Stockholm vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Stockholm is 88.3% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 3.7 times more in Stockholm
Groceries: pay 82.8% more in Stockholm
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Stockholm
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Stockholm
Childcare: pay 74.3% less in Stockholm
Entertainment and Sports: pay 91.6% more in Stockholm
Clothing: pay 78.7% more in Stockholm

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

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Stockholm vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.7 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Stockholm
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$17.99 SEK178.38	+302.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$11.90 SEK117.93	+127.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$3.66 SEK36.32	+511.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$3.09 SEK30.60	+734.7%
Average			+269.8%

Shanghai vs. Stockholm - Cost of restaurants

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pay 82.8% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Stockholm
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$3.97 SEK39.36	+101.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$6.37 SEK63.11	-25.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$6.67 SEK66.09	-3.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$5.11 SEK50.68	+201.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$5.83 SEK57.75	+294.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.60 SEK15.85	+60.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$1.26 SEK12.50	+63.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$1.44 SEK14.23	+58.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$2.02 SEK20.03	+162.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.79 SEK7.78	+119.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.80 SEK7.94	+84.9%
Average			+82.8%

Shanghai vs. Stockholm - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Shanghai	Stockholm
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$6.72 SEK66.59	+35.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$105.97 SEK1,050.45	+255.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$32,980.57 SEK327K	+70.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$17.85 SEK176.99	+215.0%
Average			+100.8%

Shanghai vs. Stockholm - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Shanghai	Stockholm
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$39.70 SEK393.49	+276.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$1,674.52 SEK16,599.03	+61.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$1,080.50 SEK10,710.63	+83.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$190.15 SEK1,884.88	+331.6%
Average			+105.5%

Shanghai vs. Stockholm - Cost of housing

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pay 74.3% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Stockholm
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$157.47 SEK1,560.91	-88.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$16,395.31 SEK163K	-40.8%
Average			-74.3%

Shanghai vs. Stockholm - Cost of childcare

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pay 91.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Stockholm
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$7.95 SEK78.78	+566.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$5.05 SEK50.04	+50.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$8.70 SEK86.22	+133.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$46.98 SEK465.67	-28.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$18.99 SEK188.29	+112.3%
Average			+91.6%

Shanghai vs. Stockholm - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 78.7% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Stockholm
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$111.49 SEK1,105.16	+105.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$58.75 SEK582.33	+58.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$135.62 SEK1,344.36	+79.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$184.97 SEK1,833.59	+75.0%
Average			+78.7%

Shanghai vs. Stockholm - 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 31 times bigger than Stockholm.

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