Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

United Kingdom

United Kingdom vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

United Kingdom is 50.5% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.5% more in United Kingdom
Groceries: pay 10.5% less in United Kingdom
Transportation: pay 33.8% more in United Kingdom
Housing: pay 90.8% more in United Kingdom
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in United Kingdom
Entertainment and Sports: pay 85.2% more in United Kingdom
Clothing: pay 2.1% less in United Kingdom

The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and restaurants in United Kingdom are more expensive than in Costa Rica. Expenses including groceries and clothing are lower in United Kingdom. Notably, childcare, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in United Kingdom.

United Kingdom vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United Kingdom instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.5% more for restaurants

	Costa Rica	United Kingdom
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.75 CRC4,934.64	$18.70 £14.48	+91.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.08 CRC4,597.50	$9.25 £7.17	+1.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 CRC1,017.87	$2.23 £1.73	+11.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 CRC755.10	$1.57 £1.21	+4.9%
Average			+27.5%

Costa Rica vs. United Kingdom - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.5% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	United Kingdom
Bread 1 loaf	$2.53 CRC1,281.92	$1.53 £1.18	-39.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 CRC1,904.89	$4.35 £3.37	+15.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 CRC3,531.56	$5.92 £4.59	-15.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.21 CRC1,626.19	$3.77 £2.92	+17.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.97 CRC2,010.28	$3.70 £2.87	-6.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 CRC905.87	$1.23 £0.95	-31.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC312.30	$0.67 £0.52	+7.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC615.81	$1.26 £0.97	+3.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC618.46	$1.42 £1.10	+15.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 CRC553.99	$0.65 £0.50	-40.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 CRC563.82	$0.65 £0.50	-41.7%
Average			-10.5%

Costa Rica vs. United Kingdom - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.8% more for transportation

	Costa Rica	United Kingdom
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.63 CRC2,848.69	$7.07 £5.48	+25.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.00 CRC24,805.81	$98.23 £76.08	+100.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,063.37 CRC17,750,894.60	$34,832.80 £26,978.10	-0.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.62 CRC7,908.78	$17.15 £13.28	+9.8%
Average			+33.8%

Costa Rica vs. United Kingdom - Cost of transportation

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pay 90.8% more for housing

	Costa Rica	United Kingdom
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.50 CRC24,553.43	$39.40 £30.52	-18.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$778.04 CRC393,882.96	$1,243.58 £963.16	+59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$547.50 CRC277,174.52	$1,020.84 £790.64	+86.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.26 CRC34,555.59	$229.21 £177.52	+235.8%
Average			+90.8%

Costa Rica vs. United Kingdom - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Costa Rica	United Kingdom
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.07 CRC262,778.88	$1,497.56 £1,159.87	+188.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,987.74 CRC5,562,564.62	$18,629.32 £14,428.47	+69.5%
Average			+129.0%

Costa Rica vs. United Kingdom - Cost of childcare

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pay 85.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	United Kingdom
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 CRC1,380.63	$5.63 £4.36	+106.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.65 CRC1,849.97	$4.12 £3.19	+12.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.58 CRC2,319.80	$17.47 £13.53	+281.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.46 CRC30,102.03	$45.31 £35.10	-23.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.63 CRC4,366.88	$12.89 £9.99	+49.5%
Average			+85.2%

Costa Rica vs. United Kingdom - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	United Kingdom
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.32 CRC33,070.22	$78.43 £60.74	+20.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.54 CRC22,548.63	$40.13 £31.08	-9.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.39 CRC55,882.87	$90.36 £69.98	-18.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.22 CRC49,216.21	$96.72 £74.91	-0.5%
Average			-2.1%

Costa Rica vs. United Kingdom - 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 2025

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