Cost of living comparison

compared to

Bucharest vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 8.3% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 95.8% more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 30.4% less in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 19.5% less in Bucharest
Housing: pay 31.0% less in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 12.1% more in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.5% less in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 31.3% more in Bucharest

The cost of restaurants, clothing, and childcare in Bucharest are more expensive than in Tokyo. Expenses including housing, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Bucharest. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Bucharest.

Bucharest vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 95.8% more for restaurants

	Tokyo	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.02 ¥1,281	$13.80 RON61.57	+72.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.01 ¥801	$8.05 RON35.92	+60.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 ¥186	$2.27 RON10.15	+95.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 ¥135	$2.15 RON9.58	+154.8%
Average			+95.8%

Tokyo vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.4% less for groceries

	Tokyo	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 ¥248	$1.44 RON6.44	-7.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.21 ¥1,152	$4.98 RON22.24	-30.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.71 ¥913	$6.67 RON29.75	+16.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.33 ¥372	$3.62 RON16.15	+55.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 ¥562	$3.38 RON15.09	-3.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.38 ¥380	$0.64 RON2.87	-73.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18 ¥188	$0.79 RON3.51	-33.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.48 ¥396	$0.80 RON3.58	-67.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.64 ¥422	$1.18 RON5.29	-55.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 ¥228	$0.46 RON2.07	-67.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.48 ¥237	$0.47 RON2.10	-68.3%
Average			-30.4%

Tokyo vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.5% less for transportation

	Tokyo	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.50 ¥719	$6.36 RON28.37	+41.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$73.51 ¥11,742	$23.00 RON102.62	-68.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,332.63 ¥4M	$28,745.54 RON128K	+28.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.07 ¥4,804	$6.21 RON27.71	-79.4%
Average			-19.5%

Tokyo vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.0% less for housing

	Tokyo	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.44 ¥5,342	$11.39 RON50.82	-65.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,071.65 ¥171K	$647.24 RON2,888.39	-39.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$642.24 ¥103K	$432.85 RON1,931.65	-32.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$122.16 ¥19,515	$139.60 RON622.97	+14.3%
Average			-31.0%

Tokyo vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

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pay 12.1% more for childcare

	Tokyo	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.69 ¥83,017	$664.86 RON2,967.02	+27.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,131.74 ¥2M	$14,582.52 RON65,075.95	-3.6%
Average			+12.1%

Tokyo vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.01 ¥640	$3.45 RON15.39	-14.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.43 ¥548	$3.28 RON14.65	-4.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.01 ¥640	$6.67 RON29.76	+66.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$68.19 ¥10,893	$52.49 RON234.25	-23.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.70 ¥2,028	$9.20 RON41.05	-27.6%
Average			-0.5%

Tokyo vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.3% more for clothing

	Tokyo	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.84 ¥9,080	$80.54 RON359.42	+41.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.48 ¥6,467	$45.47 RON202.93	+12.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.67 ¥10,012	$93.98 RON419.38	+49.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$90.37 ¥14,436	$109.75 RON489.78	+21.4%
Average			+31.3%

Tokyo vs. Bucharest - 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: March 2026

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