Cost of living comparison

compared to

London vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

London is 2.2 times more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in London
Groceries: pay 6.2% less in London
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in London
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in London
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.3 times more in London
Clothing: pay 66.5% more in London

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

London vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Tokyo	London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.51 ¥1,024	$25.83 £20.79	+296.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.21 ¥819	$10.33 £8.32	+98.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.12 ¥176	$2.46 £1.98	+120.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 ¥117	$1.85 £1.49	+148.3%
Average			+165.8%

Tokyo vs. London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.2% less for groceries

	Tokyo	London
Bread 1 loaf	$1.63 ¥257	$2.07 £1.67	+26.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.01 ¥1,102	$5.65 £4.55	-19.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.89 ¥926	$6.31 £5.08	+7.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.09 ¥328	$4.45 £3.58	+113.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.26 ¥513	$4.26 £3.43	+30.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.38 ¥374	$1.56 £1.26	-34.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.06 ¥167	$0.75 £0.61	-29.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.65 ¥416	$1.44 £1.16	-45.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.42 ¥380	$1.79 £1.44	-25.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.29 ¥203	$0.69 £0.55	-46.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.26 ¥199	$0.70 £0.56	-44.4%
Average			-6.2%

Tokyo vs. London - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Tokyo	London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.42 ¥695	$7.39 £5.95	+67.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$58.62 ¥9,215	$258.31 £207.93	+340.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,767.76 ¥3,421,783	$36,531.14 £29,406.07	+67.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.88 ¥4,382	$35.26 £28.38	+26.5%
Average			+125.5%

Tokyo vs. London - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Tokyo	London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.86 ¥5,008	$41.63 £33.51	+30.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,120.28 ¥176,102	$2,834.46 £2,281.63	+153.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$582.98 ¥91,642	$2,063.73 £1,661.22	+254.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.03 ¥21,069	$263.90 £212.43	+96.9%
Average			+133.7%

Tokyo vs. London - Cost of housing

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pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Tokyo	London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$533.29 ¥83,831	$2,333.60 £1,878.45	+337.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,506.96 ¥2,280,421	$27,892.30 £22,452.16	+92.3%
Average			+215.0%

Tokyo vs. London - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.3 times more for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 ¥512	$8.27 £6.65	+153.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.40 ¥535	$4.80 £3.87	+41.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.91 ¥614	$19.76 £15.91	+405.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.16 ¥10,557	$65.66 £52.86	-2.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.38 ¥1,945	$16.14 £13.00	+30.5%
Average			+125.8%

Tokyo vs. London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 66.5% more for clothing

	Tokyo	London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.60 ¥8,268	$96.94 £78.03	+84.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.87 ¥5,796	$50.55 £40.69	+37.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$63.41 ¥9,968	$114.87 £92.47	+81.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.89 ¥13,030	$135.36 £108.96	+63.3%
Average			+66.5%

Tokyo vs. London - 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: January 2025

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