Cost of living comparison

Keflavik, Iceland

compared to

Beijing, China

Beijing vs. Keflavik Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 4.9% cheaper than Keflavik.

Restaurants: pay 77.7% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 35.0% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 59.7% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 31.1% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 3.4 times more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.2% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 38.4% less in Beijing

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

Beijing vs. Keflavik Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 77.7% less for restaurants

	Keflavik	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.00 ISK2,557	$4.17 CN¥30.42	-79.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$15.10 ISK1,930	$5.57 CN¥40.56	-63.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 ISK369	$0.50 CN¥3.61	-82.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.19 ISK279	$0.31 CN¥2.25	-85.9%
Average			-77.7%

Keflavik vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.0% less for groceries

	Keflavik	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$3.61 ISK462	$1.43 CN¥10.45	-60.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.76 ISK992	$7.31 CN¥53.25	-5.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.40 ISK819	$7.17 CN¥52.25	+12.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.40 ISK691	$1.74 CN¥12.67	-67.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.60 ISK1,099	$1.53 CN¥11.16	-82.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.92 ISK117	$0.92 CN¥6.68	+0.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 ISK117	$0.71 CN¥5.18	-22.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.98 ISK125	$0.89 CN¥6.46	-9.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.50 ISK192	$0.58 CN¥4.25	-61.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.08 ISK138	$0.37 CN¥2.68	-65.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.60 ISK77	$0.47 CN¥3.43	-21.7%
Average			-35.0%

Keflavik vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.7% less for transportation

	Keflavik	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.49 ISK1,086	$4.36 CN¥31.78	-48.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$80.36 ISK10,274	$33.40 CN¥243.38	-58.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$42,450.45 ISK5,427,290	$20,872.18 CN¥152,110.18	-50.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.05 ISK3,075	$4.59 CN¥33.46	-80.9%
Average			-59.7%

Keflavik vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.1% less for housing

	Keflavik	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$64.86 ISK8,293	$13.28 CN¥96.81	-79.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,345.35 ISK172,002	$929.88 CN¥6,776.67	-30.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$960.96 ISK122,859	$492.44 CN¥3,588.77	-48.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.23 ISK3,993	$42.04 CN¥306.38	+34.6%
Average			-31.1%

Keflavik vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.4 times more for childcare

	Keflavik	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$252.14 ISK32,236	$763.49 CN¥5,564.12	+202.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,993.99 ISK766,332	$22,913.01 CN¥166,983.17	+282.3%
Average			+242.6%

Keflavik vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Keflavik	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.57 ISK968	$1.11 CN¥8.11	-85.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.57 ISK456	$3.60 CN¥26.26	+1.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.77 ISK1,377	$3.48 CN¥25.35	-67.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.66 ISK7,372	$65.46 CN¥477.03	+13.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.33 ISK1,705	$8.35 CN¥60.84	-37.4%
Average			-35.2%

Keflavik vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 38.4% less for clothing

	Keflavik	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.97 ISK13,932	$62.65 CN¥456.61	-42.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.72 ISK6,357	$34.69 CN¥252.79	-30.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$151.85 ISK19,415	$83.45 CN¥608.18	-45.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$168.17 ISK21,500	$107.64 CN¥784.42	-36.0%
Average			-38.4%

Keflavik vs. Beijing - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: April 2025

More cost comparisons

Keflavik vs.

Algiers

Keflavik vs.

Manila

Keflavik vs.

Athens

Keflavik vs.

Quito

Keflavik vs.

London

Keflavik vs.

Mexico City

Keflavik vs.

Ottawa

Keflavik vs.

Washington

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Iceland vs. China. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Iceland and China.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Keflavik

Add prices for Beijing

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Beijing or Keflavik. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.