Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Albania

Tirana vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Tirana is 14.6% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Tirana
Groceries: pay 22.3% more in Tirana
Transportation: pay 54.5% more in Tirana
Housing: pay 5.8% less in Tirana
Childcare: pay 73.1% less in Tirana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.4% more in Tirana
Clothing: pay 30.5% more in Tirana

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

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Tirana vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Tirana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$9.77 ALL794	+118.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$10.99 ALL893	+110.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$2.38 ALL193	+297.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$1.26 ALL103	+241.7%
Average			+139.4%

Shanghai vs. Tirana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.3% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Tirana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$1.18 ALL96	-40.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$6.45 ALL524	-24.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$8.47 ALL688	+23.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$3.77 ALL306	+121.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$4.12 ALL335	+178.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$0.89 ALL72	-10.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$1.12 ALL91	+45.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.98 ALL80	+8.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$0.84 ALL68	+9.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.47 ALL38	+30.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.58 ALL47	+33.4%
Average			+22.3%

Shanghai vs. Tirana - Cost of groceries

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pay 54.5% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Tirana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$8.77 ALL712	+76.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$19.54 ALL1,587	-34.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$33,592.07 ALL3M	+73.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$32.98 ALL2,678	+481.9%
Average			+54.5%

Shanghai vs. Tirana - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.8% less for housing

	Shanghai	Tirana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$19.91 ALL1,617	+88.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$828.78 ALL67,311	-20.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$479.97 ALL38,982	-18.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$74.95 ALL6,088	+70.1%
Average			-5.8%

Shanghai vs. Tirana - Cost of housing

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pay 73.1% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Tirana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$344.43 ALL27,973	-75.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$8,249.97 ALL670K	-70.2%
Average			-73.1%

Shanghai vs. Tirana - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Tirana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$3.54 ALL288	+196.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$2.25 ALL183	-32.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$4.76 ALL387	+27.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$55.71 ALL4,525	-15.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$9.77 ALL794	+9.2%
Average			+15.4%

Shanghai vs. Tirana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.5% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Tirana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$69.87 ALL5,675	+28.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$47.44 ALL3,853	+27.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$122.26 ALL9,930	+62.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$115.33 ALL9,367	+9.1%
Average			+30.5%

Shanghai vs. Tirana - 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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