Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

Netherlands

Amsterdam vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Amsterdam is 44.9% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 65.1% more in Amsterdam
Groceries: pay 3.8% more in Amsterdam
Transportation: pay 43.5% more in Amsterdam
Housing: pay 78.8% more in Amsterdam
Childcare: pay 88.4% more in Amsterdam
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.3% more in Amsterdam
Clothing: pay 10.4% more in Amsterdam

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

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Amsterdam vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Amsterdam instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 65.1% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Amsterdam
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.27	$22.39 €19.93	+63.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.02 NZ$15.95	$15.09 €13.43	+67.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 NZ$4.28	$3.82 €3.40	+57.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.71 NZ$3.02	$2.97 €2.65	+74.1%
Average			+65.1%

Wellington vs. Amsterdam - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.8% more for groceries

	Wellington	Amsterdam
Bread 1 loaf	$2.16 NZ$3.82	$2.32 €2.06	+7.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.18	$8.37 €7.45	+81.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.59	$5.83 €5.19	-18.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.89 NZ$12.19	$5.17 €4.60	-25.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NZ$7.73	$5.96 €5.30	+36.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.47	$1.25 €1.11	-10.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.75	$1.25 €1.12	+26.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.42	$1.21 €1.08	-11.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.93 NZ$5.18	$1.76 €1.57	-39.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.69	$1.11 €0.98	+16.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$0.75 €0.67	+32.3%
Average			+3.8%

Wellington vs. Amsterdam - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.5% more for transportation

	Wellington	Amsterdam
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.03 NZ$12.44	$9.77 €8.69	+38.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$101.23 NZ$179.01	$114.21 €101.65	+12.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,203.61 NZ$44,568.72	$41,419.02 €36,864.42	+64.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.63	$31.74 €28.25	+96.1%
Average			+43.5%

Wellington vs. Amsterdam - Cost of transportation

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pay 78.8% more for housing

	Wellington	Amsterdam
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$53.32 NZ$94.29	$53.22 €47.37	-0.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,215.08 NZ$2,148.69	$2,615.70 €2,328.07	+115.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,141.32 NZ$2,018.26	$1,951.54 €1,736.94	+71.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$149.83 NZ$264.95	$223.49 €198.91	+49.2%
Average			+78.8%

Wellington vs. Amsterdam - Cost of housing

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pay 88.4% more for childcare

	Wellington	Amsterdam
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,055.30 NZ$1,866.14	$2,791.00 €2,484.09	+164.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	$17,310.49 €15,406.96	+34.2%
Average			+88.4%

Wellington vs. Amsterdam - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Amsterdam
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.88	$7.61 €6.78	+4.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.34 NZ$5.91	$4.55 €4.05	+36.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.53	$14.56 €12.96	-42.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.09 NZ$67.36	$59.26 €52.75	+55.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.04 NZ$21.30	$16.80 €14.95	+39.5%
Average			+23.3%

Wellington vs. Amsterdam - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.4% more for clothing

	Wellington	Amsterdam
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$77.76 NZ$137.50	$93.98 €83.65	+20.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$49.78	$40.96 €36.46	+45.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$179.97	$99.66 €88.70	-2.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$152.66 NZ$269.95	$131.49 €117.03	-13.9%
Average			+10.4%

Wellington vs. Amsterdam - 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

Wellington is about 2.7 times bigger than Amsterdam.

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