Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

St. Gallen, Switzerland

St. Gallen vs. China Cost of Living Summary

St. Gallen is 4.3 times more expensive than China overall.

Restaurants: pay 8.3 times more in St. Gallen
Groceries: pay 3.2 times more in St. Gallen
Transportation: pay 4.4 times more in St. Gallen
Housing: pay 5.2 times more in St. Gallen
Childcare: pay 3.9 times more in St. Gallen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.2 times more in St. Gallen
Clothing: pay 2.2 times more in St. Gallen

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

St. Gallen vs. China Cost Breakdown

If you lived in St. Gallen instead of China, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.3 times more for restaurants

	China	St. Gallen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.85 CN¥20.58	$25.09 CHF21.02	+778.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.07 CN¥36.52	$14.83 CHF12.42	+192.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 CN¥3.53	$4.56 CHF3.82	+832.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 CN¥2.16	$3.71 CHF3.11	+1134.3%
Average			+734.5%

China vs. St. Gallen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2 times more for groceries

	China	St. Gallen
Bread 1 loaf	$1.59 CN¥11.47	$3.28 CHF2.75	+106.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.85 CN¥42.18	$13.34 CHF11.18	+128.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.86 CN¥49.45	$7.40 CHF6.20	+7.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.60 CN¥11.51	$7.36 CHF6.17	+361.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.54 CN¥11.11	$12.36 CHF10.36	+702.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.76 CN¥5.50	$1.42 CHF1.19	+85.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 CN¥4.13	$0.93 CHF0.78	+62.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.65 CN¥4.71	$1.19 CHF1.00	+82.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.52 CN¥3.78	$2.94 CHF2.47	+462.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 CN¥2.31	$1.03 CHF0.86	+220.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 CN¥2.89	$0.99 CHF0.83	+146.6%
Average			+215.1%

China vs. St. Gallen - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.4 times more for transportation

	China	St. Gallen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.44 CN¥32.04	$7.72 CHF6.47	+73.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.47 CN¥161.99	$75.13 CHF62.95	+234.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,071.53 CN¥137,490.50	$37,408.50 CHF31,342.53	+96.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.97 CN¥28.65	$41.86 CHF35.07	+953.1%
Average			+339.3%

China vs. St. Gallen - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.2 times more for housing

	China	St. Gallen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.70 CN¥84.31	$50.18 CHF42.04	+329.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$328.33 CN¥2,367.00	$1,767.78 CHF1,481.13	+438.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$205.78 CN¥1,483.51	$1,406.62 CHF1,178.53	+583.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$40.46 CN¥291.67	$174.69 CHF146.37	+331.8%
Average			+420.7%

China vs. St. Gallen - Cost of housing

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pay 3.9 times more for childcare

	China	St. Gallen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$459.70 CN¥3,314.06	$2,623.16 CHF2,197.80	+470.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,318.08 CN¥132,058.70	$39,537.44 CHF33,126.25	+115.8%
Average			+293.2%

China vs. St. Gallen - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	China	St. Gallen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.09 CN¥7.86	$6.96 CHF5.83	+537.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.07 CN¥22.11	$5.59 CHF4.68	+82.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.23 CN¥23.31	$10.04 CHF8.41	+210.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.41 CN¥298.52	$64.63 CHF54.15	+56.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.93 CN¥42.72	$19.39 CHF16.24	+227.2%
Average			+222.8%

China vs. St. Gallen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.2 times more for clothing

	China	St. Gallen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.23 CN¥347.66	$134.01 CHF112.28	+177.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.67 CN¥228.32	$71.28 CHF59.72	+125.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.53 CN¥522.86	$126.60 CHF106.07	+74.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$75.53 CN¥544.55	$148.27 CHF124.22	+96.3%
Average			+118.5%

China vs. St. Gallen - 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: May 2025

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