Cost of living comparison

Bhutan

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 3.9 times more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 7.3 times more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 30.9 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 63.7% more in Tokyo

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, transportation, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Tokyo are more expensive than in Thimphu. Notably, childcare, housing, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Tokyo.

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Tokyo vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Tokyo instead of Thimphu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.58 BTN245.70	$7.59 ¥1,200	+193.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 BTN466.83	$5.06 ¥800	+3.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 BTN47.50	$1.64 ¥259	+228.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN17.20	$0.89 ¥140	+389.5%
Average			+116.6%

Thimphu vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Thimphu	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 BTN101.96	$1.71 ¥270	+59.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 BTN178.54	$5.29 ¥836	+181.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN288.32	$5.75 ¥909	+89.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 BTN178.87	$2.26 ¥358	+20.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.79 BTN170.51	$3.08 ¥487	+71.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 BTN109.22	$2.15 ¥340	+87.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 BTN65.75	$1.07 ¥170	+55.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 BTN69.10	$1.96 ¥309	+169.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN31.76	$2.39 ¥377	+614.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN24.52	$1.53 ¥241	+492.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.31 BTN29.53	$1.46 ¥231	+370.2%
Average			+153.2%

Thimphu vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Thimphu	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79 BTN264.82	$4.08 ¥645	+46.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.17 BTN491.40	$63.27 ¥9,997	+1123.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,591.53 BTN2M	$21,725.38 ¥3M	+30.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	$28.47 ¥4,499	+116.0%
Average			+150.3%

Thimphu vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.3 times more for housing

	Thimphu	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	$30.33 ¥4,793	+25.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	$1,280.34 ¥202K	+908.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	$692.48 ¥109K	+705.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	$113.45 ¥17,926	+339.6%
Average			+633.0%

Thimphu vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 30.9 times more for childcare

	Thimphu	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+2882.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+3109.5%
Average			+2993.9%

Thimphu vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.58 BTN245.70	$3.80 ¥600	+46.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 BTN121.21	$3.56 ¥563	+179.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.88 BTN368.55	$3.92 ¥620	+1.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	$66.31 ¥10,478	+42.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.10 BTN294.84	$12.65 ¥1,999	+307.9%
Average			+106.2%

Thimphu vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 63.7% more for clothing

	Thimphu	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	$55.50 ¥8,770	+11.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	$32.95 ¥5,207	+31.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	$65.04 ¥10,278	-3.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	$70.74 ¥11,178	+406.8%
Average			+63.7%

Thimphu vs. Tokyo - 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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