Cost of living comparison

compared to

Japan vs. Taiwan Cost of Living Summary

Japan is 13.6% more expensive than Taiwan overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.6% more in Japan
Groceries: pay 4.3% less in Japan
Transportation: pay 57.2% more in Japan
Housing: pay 55.8% more in Japan
Childcare: pay 31.9% less in Japan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.3% more in Japan
Clothing: pay 16.4% less in Japan

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

Japan vs. Taiwan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Japan instead of Taiwan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 14.6% more for restaurants

	Taiwan	Japan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.82 NT$151.22	$6.60 ¥1,031	+37.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 NT$161.99	$5.10 ¥796	-1.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.98 NT$30.70	$1.07 ¥166	+8.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 NT$21.02	$0.76 ¥119	+13.6%
Average			+14.6%

Taiwan vs. Japan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.3% less for groceries

	Taiwan	Japan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.77 NT$55.47	$1.50 ¥234	-15.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.29 NT$291.60	$5.07 ¥791	-45.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.90 NT$373.42	$5.67 ¥885	-52.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 NT$82.06	$2.08 ¥324	-20.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.56 NT$111.70	$2.93 ¥457	-17.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.03 NT$63.63	$2.14 ¥334	+5.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.00 NT$31.34	$1.12 ¥175	+12.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.25 NT$39.17	$1.69 ¥264	+35.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.55 NT$48.61	$2.13 ¥333	+37.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 NT$37.82	$1.22 ¥190	+1.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.03 NT$32.24	$1.15 ¥180	+12.3%
Average			-4.3%

Taiwan vs. Japan - Cost of groceries

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pay 57.2% more for transportation

	Taiwan	Japan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.78 NT$118.78	$4.39 ¥686	+16.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.06 NT$1,069.33	$59.14 ¥9,236	+73.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,728.87 NT$1,121,597.24	$22,599.51 ¥3,529,252	-36.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.18 NT$288.18	$25.32 ¥3,955	+175.9%
Average			+57.2%

Taiwan vs. Japan - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.8% more for housing

	Taiwan	Japan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.10 NT$662.43	$33.91 ¥5,296	+60.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$429.29 NT$13,476.23	$543.18 ¥84,826	+26.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$295.73 NT$9,283.44	$353.61 ¥55,222	+19.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.85 NT$1,721.85	$118.72 ¥18,539	+116.4%
Average			+55.8%

Taiwan vs. Japan - Cost of housing

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pay 31.9% less for childcare

	Taiwan	Japan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.45 NT$16,306.62	$296.89 ¥46,363	-42.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,665.76 NT$523,169.72	$13,159.48 ¥2,055,050	-21.0%
Average			-31.9%

Taiwan vs. Japan - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Taiwan	Japan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.97 NT$61.79	$2.60 ¥407	+32.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.00 NT$94.24	$3.03 ¥473	+0.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.54 NT$142.65	$3.89 ¥607	-14.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.49 NT$1,176.73	$59.54 ¥9,298	+58.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.04 NT$315.31	$12.46 ¥1,946	+24.1%
Average			+20.3%

Taiwan vs. Japan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.4% less for clothing

	Taiwan	Japan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.08 NT$2,043.13	$44.79 ¥6,995	-31.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.24 NT$980.69	$32.04 ¥5,003	+2.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.60 NT$2,498.69	$57.37 ¥8,959	-27.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.29 NT$3,022.88	$87.37 ¥13,644	-9.3%
Average			-16.4%

Taiwan vs. Japan - 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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