Cost of living comparison

Croatia

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Zagreb Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 24.3% cheaper than Zagreb.

Restaurants: pay 62.0% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 21.7% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 37.5% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 21.6% less in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 2.8 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.8% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 23.6% less in Shanghai

Expenses including restaurants, transportation, clothing, groceries, housing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Shanghai. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Shanghai.

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Shanghai vs. Zagreb Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shanghai instead of Zagreb, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 62.0% less for restaurants

	Zagreb	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.32 HRK82.58	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-63.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.12 HRK54.42	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-35.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.04 HRK20.36	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-80.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.59 HRK17.36	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-85.7%
Average			-62.0%

Zagreb vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.7% less for groceries

	Zagreb	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.63 HRK10.95	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+20.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.46 HRK50.04	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+15.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.78 HRK32.05	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+43.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.93 HRK26.33	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-56.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.41 HRK36.30	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-72.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.04 HRK6.96	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-4.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 HRK5.32	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-2.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.95 HRK6.35	$0.90 CN¥6.05	-4.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 HRK7.71	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-33.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 HRK4.05	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-40.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 HRK3.54	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-17.8%
Average			-21.7%

Zagreb vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.5% less for transportation

	Zagreb	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.15 HRK47.92	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-30.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.50 HRK358.68	$29.83 CN¥199.59	-44.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,993.39 HRK188K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-30.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.44 HRK90.08	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-57.8%
Average			-37.5%

Zagreb vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.6% less for housing

	Zagreb	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$40.80 HRK273.55	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-74.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$869.66 HRK5,830.31	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+19.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$659.99 HRK4,424.62	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	-10.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$167.33 HRK1,121.83	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-73.7%
Average			-21.6%

Zagreb vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

	Zagreb	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$494.08 HRK3,312.40	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+186.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,918.06 HRK66,491.85	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+179.1%
Average			+182.6%

Zagreb vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Zagreb	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.36 HRK22.52	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-64.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.50 HRK16.73	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+34.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.77 HRK38.66	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-35.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.32 HRK337.34	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+30.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.96 HRK60.05	$8.95 CN¥59.88	-0.1%
Average			-11.8%

Zagreb vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.6% less for clothing

	Zagreb	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$105.08 HRK704.49	$54.37 CN¥363.79	-48.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$43.32 HRK290.43	$37.09 CN¥248.19	-14.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.92 HRK636.35	$75.49 CN¥505.08	-20.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.43 HRK733.62	$105.70 CN¥707.25	-3.4%
Average			-23.6%

Zagreb vs. Shanghai - 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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