Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

Sweden

Sweden vs. Spain Cost of Living Summary

Sweden is 6.3% more expensive than Spain overall.

Restaurants: pay 4.7% less in Sweden
Groceries: pay 21.1% more in Sweden
Transportation: pay 27.2% more in Sweden
Housing: pay 5.4% less in Sweden
Childcare: pay 48.8% less in Sweden
Entertainment and Sports: pay 50.1% more in Sweden
Clothing: pay 19.6% more in Sweden

The cost of entertainment and sports, transportation, groceries, and clothing in Sweden are more expensive than in Spain. Expenses including childcare, housing, and restaurants are lower in Sweden.

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Sweden vs. Spain Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sweden instead of Spain, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 4.7% less for restaurants

	Spain	Sweden
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.08 €14.31	$14.04 SEK139.16	-12.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.79 €9.61	$10.77 SEK106.72	-0.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.54 €2.26	$2.49 SEK24.69	-1.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 €1.57	$2.07 SEK20.50	+17.2%
Average			-4.7%

Spain vs. Sweden - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.1% more for groceries

	Spain	Sweden
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 €1.33	$2.82 SEK27.96	+88.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.20 €6.40	$5.72 SEK56.73	-20.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.49 €4.00	$6.07 SEK60.17	+35.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.29 €2.93	$4.23 SEK41.96	+28.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.74 €3.33	$5.25 SEK52.06	+40.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.16 €1.03	$1.36 SEK13.45	+16.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.93 €0.83	$1.14 SEK11.35	+23.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.96 €0.85	$1.29 SEK12.83	+35.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 €1.10	$1.93 SEK19.15	+56.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 €0.75	$0.76 SEK7.53	-9.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 €0.79	$0.73 SEK7.23	-18.3%
Average			+21.1%

Spain vs. Sweden - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.2% more for transportation

	Spain	Sweden
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.62 €5.89	$6.65 SEK65.87	+0.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.07 €27.66	$77.78 SEK770.99	+150.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,519.36 €30,723.47	$31,975.58 SEK317K	-7.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.43 €14.62	$22.74 SEK225.41	+38.4%
Average			+27.2%

Spain vs. Sweden - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.4% less for housing

	Spain	Sweden
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.92 €26.63	$38.16 SEK378.26	+27.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$925.54 €823.76	$883.11 SEK8,753.97	-4.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$728.71 €648.57	$671.43 SEK6,655.65	-7.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.11 €97.11	$97.70 SEK968.44	-10.5%
Average			-5.4%

Spain vs. Sweden - Cost of housing

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pay 48.8% less for childcare

	Spain	Sweden
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$480.60 €427.75	$155.03 SEK1,536.80	-67.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,049.60 €8,054.47	$7,341.74 SEK72,776.51	-18.9%
Average			-48.8%

Spain vs. Sweden - Cost of childcare

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pay 50.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Spain	Sweden
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.31 €2.94	$7.36 SEK72.98	+122.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.30 €2.04	$4.45 SEK44.08	+93.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.23 €5.54	$7.55 SEK74.80	+21.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$47.01 €41.84	$41.12 SEK407.65	-12.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.34 €8.32	$15.58 SEK154.45	+66.8%
Average			+50.1%

Spain vs. Sweden - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.6% more for clothing

	Spain	Sweden
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$80.62 €71.76	$91.37 SEK905.76	+13.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.25 €32.27	$44.99 SEK445.93	+24.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.09 €80.18	$95.04 SEK942.07	+5.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.00 €96.12	$148.76 SEK1,474.64	+37.7%
Average			+19.6%

Spain vs. Sweden - 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

Compare further: Spain vs. Sweden

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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Spain is around the same size as Sweden.

Moving from Spain to Sweden · OECD 2023

1,446 people moved from Spain to Sweden.

City Size Comparison · See true size

Compare the size of Madrid vs Stockholm

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