Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

Iceland

Iceland vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 7.8% more expensive than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 65.3% more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 16.4% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 20.9% more in Iceland
Housing: pay 10.5% less in Iceland
Childcare: pay 39.1% less in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.8% more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 40.9% more in Iceland

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

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Iceland vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Iceland instead of Sydney, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 65.3% more for restaurants

	Sydney	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.41 A$24.76	$28.88 ISK3,517	+65.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.84 A$16.84	$22.83 ISK2,781	+92.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 A$4.00	$3.25 ISK395	+15.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 A$3.15	$3.01 ISK367	+35.9%
Average			+65.3%

Sydney vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.4% more for groceries

	Sydney	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 A$4.05	$3.55 ISK433	+24.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.93 A$8.44	$10.11 ISK1,232	+70.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 A$9.13	$7.79 ISK949	+21.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.56 A$7.90	$6.92 ISK843	+24.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 A$6.17	$11.01 ISK1,341	+153.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 A$2.57	$1.43 ISK174	-21.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.07	$1.23 ISK149	-15.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 A$2.22	$1.42 ISK173	-9.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 A$2.82	$2.60 ISK317	+31.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.10	$1.71 ISK208	+15.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 A$1.52	$0.76 ISK92	-29.3%
Average			+16.4%

Sydney vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.9% more for transportation

	Sydney	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 A$7.68	$8.09 ISK985	+49.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$151.36 A$215.30	$80.58 ISK9,813	-46.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,893.97 A$41,100.95	$48,967.53 ISK6M	+69.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.24 A$23.10	$26.24 ISK3,195	+61.6%
Average			+20.9%

Sydney vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.5% less for housing

	Sydney	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$56.21 A$79.96	$98.24 ISK11,964	+74.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,517.32 A$3,580.82	$2,335.24 ISK284K	-7.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,743.66 A$2,480.32	$1,824.40 ISK222K	+4.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.46 A$239.63	$72.34 ISK8,809	-57.1%
Average			-10.5%

Sydney vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 39.1% less for childcare

	Sydney	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,195.71 A$3,123.34	$833.66 ISK102K	-62.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,441.13 A$40,456.80	$27,752.37 ISK3M	-2.4%
Average			-39.1%

Sydney vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.66 A$10.89	$11.37 ISK1,385	+48.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 A$5.65	$5.90 ISK718	+48.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$44.55 A$63.37	$13.85 ISK1,687	-68.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.28 A$107.09	$83.64 ISK10,186	+11.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.41 A$24.76	$17.92 ISK2,182	+2.9%
Average			+7.8%

Sydney vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.9% more for clothing

	Sydney	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.68 A$111.91	$134.47 ISK16,375	+70.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.62 A$99.04	$63.25 ISK7,702	-9.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.40 A$158.46	$159.03 ISK19,366	+42.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.24 A$189.52	$237.19 ISK28,885	+78.0%
Average			+40.9%

Sydney vs. Iceland - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Sydney is about 27 times smaller than Iceland.

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