Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Sweden Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 11.8% more expensive than Sweden overall.

Restaurants: pay 24.4% less in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 2.3% less in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 19.9% less in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 10.1% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.5% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 16.6% less in Costa Rica

Expenses including entertainment and sports, restaurants, transportation, clothing, housing, and groceries are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Sweden Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Sweden, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 24.4% less for restaurants

	Sweden	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.38 SEK135.86	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	-32.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.04 SEK104.36	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	-13.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.58 SEK24.43	$2.00 CRC995.21	-22.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 SEK20.96	$1.57 CRC781.41	-29.1%
Average			-24.4%

Sweden vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.3% less for groceries

	Sweden	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$2.88 SEK27.20	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	-11.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.00 SEK56.72	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	-25.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.33 SEK59.85	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	+18.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.34 SEK41.01	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	-35.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.57 SEK52.62	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	-31.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 SEK13.35	$1.78 CRC886.81	+26.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.21 SEK11.44	$0.62 CRC305.74	-49.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.36 SEK12.85	$1.65 CRC819.01	+21.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.97 SEK18.66	$1.24 CRC617.46	-37.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SEK7.55	$1.28 CRC635.24	+59.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 SEK7.49	$1.10 CRC547.12	+38.8%
Average			-2.3%

Sweden vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.9% less for transportation

	Sweden	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.32 SEK69.19	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	-25.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$81.92 SEK774.19	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	-33.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,594.19 SEK298,596.70	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	+15.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.67 SEK233.17	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	-36.4%
Average			-19.9%

Sweden vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.1% less for housing

	Sweden	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.43 SEK353.72	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	+31.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$936.32 SEK8,849.16	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	-14.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$720.46 SEK6,809.11	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	-22.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$97.92 SEK925.40	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	-35.1%
Average			-10.1%

Sweden vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	Sweden	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$155.59 SEK1,470.47	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	+232.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,116.05 SEK38,900.77	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	+132.1%
Average			+182.2%

Sweden vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Sweden	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.74 SEK73.17	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	-66.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.56 SEK43.10	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	-15.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.64 SEK72.24	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	-38.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.09 SEK416.68	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	+33.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.46 SEK155.54	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	-44.7%
Average			-26.5%

Sweden vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.6% less for clothing

	Sweden	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$94.86 SEK896.55	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	-38.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.53 SEK401.90	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	+5.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.79 SEK1,009.30	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	+5.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$151.29 SEK1,429.84	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	-38.3%
Average			-16.6%

Sweden vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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