Cost of living comparison
compared to
United Kingdom vs. Sweden Cost of Living Summary
United Kingdom is 29.7% more expensive than Sweden overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 17.2% more in United Kingdom
- Groceries
-
pay 16.0% less in United Kingdom
- Transportation
-
pay 17.2% more in United Kingdom
- Housing
-
pay 61.5% more in United Kingdom
- Childcare
-
pay 5.7 times more in United Kingdom
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 12.2% more in United Kingdom
- Clothing
-
pay 11.3% less in United Kingdom
United Kingdom vs. Sweden Cost Breakdown
If you lived in United Kingdom instead of Sweden, you would:
pay 17.2% more for restaurants
|
Sweden
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.04
SEK140.37
|
$21.32
£16.10
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.77
SEK107.65
|
$10.25
£7.74
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.49
SEK24.90
|
$2.54
£1.92
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.07
SEK20.68
|
$1.79
£1.35
|
|
Sweden vs. United Kingdom - Cost of restaurants
pay 16.0% less for groceries
|
Sweden
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.82
SEK28.21
|
$1.67
£1.26
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.72
SEK57.23
|
$4.62
£3.49
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.07
SEK60.70
|
$6.01
£4.54
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.23
SEK42.32
|
$3.96
£2.99
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.25
SEK52.51
|
$3.93
£2.97
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.36
SEK13.57
|
$1.32
£1.00
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.14
SEK11.45
|
$0.73
£0.55
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.29
SEK12.95
|
$1.21
£0.91
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.93
SEK19.32
|
$1.51
£1.14
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.76
SEK7.60
|
$0.76
£0.58
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.73
SEK7.29
|
$0.72
£0.54
|
|
Sweden vs. United Kingdom - Cost of groceries
pay 17.2% more for transportation
|
Sweden
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.65
SEK66.45
|
$7.59
£5.73
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$77.78
SEK777.72
|
$99.20
£74.91
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$31,975.58
SEK320K
|
$37,629.43
£28,417.79
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.74
SEK227.37
|
$23.43
£17.70
|
|
Sweden vs. United Kingdom - Cost of transportation
pay 61.5% more for housing
|
Sweden
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$38.16
SEK381.56
|
$41.42
£31.28
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$883.11
SEK8,830.36
|
$1,299.59
£981.45
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$671.43
SEK6,713.73
|
$1,069.01
£807.32
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$97.70
SEK976.89
|
$239.96
£181.22
|
|
Sweden vs. United Kingdom - Cost of housing
pay 5.7 times more for childcare
|
Sweden
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$155.03
SEK1,550.21
|
$1,589.10
£1,200.09
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$7,341.74
SEK73,411.57
|
$23,025.39
£17,388.80
|
|
Sweden vs. United Kingdom - Cost of childcare
pay 12.2% more for entertainment and sports
|
Sweden
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.36
SEK73.62
|
$6.50
£4.91
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.45
SEK44.47
|
$4.66
£3.52
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.55
SEK75.45
|
$22.34
£16.87
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$41.12
SEK411.21
|
$49.72
£37.55
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.58
SEK155.80
|
$14.11
£10.65
|
|
Sweden vs. United Kingdom - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 11.3% less for clothing
|
Sweden
|
United Kingdom
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$91.37
SEK913.67
|
$85.37
£64.47
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.99
SEK449.82
|
$44.93
£33.93
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$95.04
SEK950.29
|
$95.35
£72.01
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$148.76
SEK1,487.51
|
$98.21
£74.17
|
|
Sweden vs. United Kingdom - Cost of clothing
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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