Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Burma

Yangon vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Yangon is 24.6% cheaper than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 31.0% less in Yangon
Groceries: pay 22.3% more in Yangon
Transportation: pay 86.8% more in Yangon
Housing: pay 57.4% less in Yangon
Childcare: pay 53.0% less in Yangon
Entertainment and Sports: pay 58.4% less in Yangon
Clothing: pay 47.0% more in Yangon

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

Yangon vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 31.0% less for restaurants

	Shanghai	Yangon
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.86	$2.56 MMK5,376	-42.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.84	$3.00 MMK6,300	-42.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$0.74 MMK1,551	+23.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.63 MMK1,316	+69.4%
Average			-31.0%

Shanghai vs. Yangon - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.3% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Yangon
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.18	$1.16 MMK2,426	-41.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.38	$3.22 MMK6,760	-62.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.90	$6.49 MMK13,620	-5.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$1.86 MMK3,912	+9.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.86	$2.10 MMK4,413	+42.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$2.07 MMK4,354	+108.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$0.50 MMK1,050	-35.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$1.87 MMK3,937	+107.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.13	$1.41 MMK2,953	+82.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$1.15 MMK2,421	+222.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$0.74 MMK1,562	+71.7%
Average			+22.3%

Shanghai vs. Yangon - Cost of groceries

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pay 86.8% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Yangon
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$34.52 MMK72,482	+595.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.09	$11.83 MMK24,840	-60.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$30,000.00 MMK63M	+54.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$9.00 MMK18,900	+58.8%
Average			+86.8%

Shanghai vs. Yangon - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.4% less for housing

	Shanghai	Yangon
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.41	$18.72 MMK39,315	+77.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,920.65	$363.80 MMK764K	-64.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.04	$196.13 MMK412K	-66.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.03	$37.83 MMK79,431	-14.1%
Average			-57.4%

Shanghai vs. Yangon - Cost of housing

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pay 53.0% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Yangon
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,433.67	$501.92 MMK1M	-64.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$17,259.40 MMK36M	-37.7%
Average			-53.0%

Shanghai vs. Yangon - Cost of childcare

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pay 58.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Yangon
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$1.00 MMK2,100	-16.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$1.68 MMK3,531	-49.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$1.64 MMK3,442	-56.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.41	$19.52 MMK40,998	-70.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.73	$2.50 MMK5,250	-72.1%
Average			-58.4%

Shanghai vs. Yangon - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 47.0% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Yangon
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.87	$89.36 MMK188K	+64.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.57	$64.37 MMK135K	+73.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.82	$100.83 MMK212K	+33.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.47	$129.71 MMK272K	+22.7%
Average			+47.0%

Shanghai vs. Yangon - 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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