Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beijing vs. Iceland Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 11.2% cheaper than Iceland overall.

Restaurants: pay 78.2% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 40.0% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 57.2% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 56.4% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 3.4 times more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 43.2% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 42.7% less in Beijing

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

Beijing vs. Iceland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Iceland, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 78.2% less for restaurants

	Iceland	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.40 ISK2,711	$4.17 CN¥30.56	-78.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$16.94 ISK2,368	$5.57 CN¥40.75	-67.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 ISK393	$0.50 CN¥3.63	-82.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.02 ISK283	$0.31 CN¥2.26	-84.7%
Average			-78.2%

Iceland vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.0% less for groceries

	Iceland	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$2.95 ISK413	$1.43 CN¥10.50	-51.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.27 ISK1,016	$7.31 CN¥53.49	+0.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.01 ISK840	$7.17 CN¥52.49	+19.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.42 ISK757	$1.74 CN¥12.72	-67.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.51 ISK1,189	$1.53 CN¥11.21	-82.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.22 ISK171	$0.92 CN¥6.72	-25.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.03 ISK143	$0.71 CN¥5.21	-30.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.17 ISK164	$0.89 CN¥6.49	-24.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.87 ISK262	$0.58 CN¥4.27	-68.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.23 ISK173	$0.37 CN¥2.70	-70.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.78 ISK110	$0.47 CN¥3.45	-40.0%
Average			-40.0%

Iceland vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 57.2% less for transportation

	Iceland	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.36 ISK1,169	$4.36 CN¥31.92	-47.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$71.28 ISK9,963	$33.40 CN¥244.47	-53.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,660.66 ISK5,683,547	$20,872.18 CN¥152,796.87	-48.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.04 ISK3,080	$4.59 CN¥33.62	-79.2%
Average			-57.2%

Iceland vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 56.4% less for housing

	Iceland	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.17 ISK10,089	$13.28 CN¥97.24	-81.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,838.04 ISK256,921	$929.88 CN¥6,807.27	-49.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,497.77 ISK209,358	$492.44 CN¥3,604.97	-67.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.01 ISK8,109	$42.04 CN¥307.76	-27.5%
Average			-56.4%

Iceland vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 3.4 times more for childcare

	Iceland	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$258.16 ISK36,086	$763.49 CN¥5,589.24	+195.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,993.99 ISK837,840	$22,913.01 CN¥167,737.01	+282.3%
Average			+239.0%

Iceland vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 43.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Iceland	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$9.19 ISK1,284	$1.11 CN¥8.15	-87.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.65 ISK650	$3.60 CN¥26.38	-22.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.76 ISK1,643	$3.48 CN¥25.47	-70.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$61.46 ISK8,591	$65.46 CN¥479.18	+6.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.35 ISK2,006	$8.35 CN¥61.12	-41.8%
Average			-43.2%

Iceland vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 42.7% less for clothing

	Iceland	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$111.23 ISK15,548	$62.65 CN¥458.67	-43.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$59.69 ISK8,343	$34.69 CN¥253.93	-41.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$148.00 ISK20,687	$83.45 CN¥610.93	-43.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$184.49 ISK25,789	$107.64 CN¥787.96	-41.7%
Average			-42.7%

Iceland vs. Beijing - 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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