Cost of living comparison

London, United Kingdom

compared to

Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen vs. London Cost of Living Summary

Shenzhen is 55.0% cheaper than London.

Restaurants: pay 74.0% less in Shenzhen
Groceries: pay 28.0% less in Shenzhen
Transportation: pay 65.8% less in Shenzhen
Housing: pay 75.5% less in Shenzhen
Childcare: pay 46.7% less in Shenzhen
Entertainment and Sports: pay 57.9% less in Shenzhen
Clothing: pay 37.4% less in Shenzhen

Expenses including housing, restaurants, transportation, entertainment and sports, childcare, and clothing are lower in Shenzhen.

Shenzhen vs. London Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shenzhen instead of London, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 74.0% less for restaurants

	London	Shenzhen
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$25.83 £19.19	$3.48 CN¥25.05	-86.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.33 £7.68	$5.57 CN¥40.07	-46.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 £1.83	$0.49 CN¥3.51	-80.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.85 £1.37	$0.31 CN¥2.25	-83.1%
Average			-74.0%

London vs. Shenzhen - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.0% less for groceries

	London	Shenzhen
Bread 1 loaf	$2.07 £1.54	$1.96 CN¥14.12	-5.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.65 £4.19	$6.05 CN¥43.54	+7.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.31 £4.69	$7.62 CN¥54.83	+20.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.45 £3.30	$1.99 CN¥14.32	-55.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.26 £3.16	$2.15 CN¥15.45	-49.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 £1.16	$0.86 CN¥6.16	-45.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 £0.56	$0.61 CN¥4.38	-19.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 £1.07	$0.77 CN¥5.52	-46.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 £1.33	$0.65 CN¥4.71	-63.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 £0.51	$0.46 CN¥3.29	-33.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 £0.52	$0.58 CN¥4.19	-17.1%
Average			-28.0%

London vs. Shenzhen - Cost of groceries

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pay 65.8% less for transportation

	London	Shenzhen
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.39 £5.49	$4.47 CN¥32.21	-39.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$258.31 £191.90	$27.83 CN¥200.37	-89.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,531.14 £27,140.15	$19,132.83 CN¥137,752.55	-47.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$35.26 £26.20	$4.56 CN¥32.86	-87.1%
Average			-65.8%

London vs. Shenzhen - Cost of transportation

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pay 75.5% less for housing

	London	Shenzhen
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$41.63 £30.93	$13.67 CN¥98.45	-67.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,834.46 £2,105.81	$761.65 CN¥5,483.74	-73.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,063.73 £1,533.21	$401.07 CN¥2,887.65	-80.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$263.90 £196.06	$50.30 CN¥362.12	-80.9%
Average			-75.5%

London vs. Shenzhen - Cost of housing

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pay 46.7% less for childcare

	London	Shenzhen
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,333.60 £1,733.71	$508.66 CN¥3,662.27	-78.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,892.30 £20,722.08	$23,655.14 CN¥170,312.25	-15.2%
Average			-46.7%

London vs. Shenzhen - Cost of childcare

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pay 57.9% less for entertainment and sports

	London	Shenzhen
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.27 £6.14	$1.11 CN¥8.01	-86.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.80 £3.57	$3.16 CN¥22.78	-34.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$19.76 £14.68	$3.83 CN¥27.55	-80.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.66 £48.78	$44.98 CN¥323.84	-31.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.14 £11.99	$6.96 CN¥50.09	-56.9%
Average			-57.9%

London vs. Shenzhen - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.4% less for clothing

	London	Shenzhen
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$96.94 £72.02	$60.75 CN¥437.39	-37.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.55 £37.55	$28.97 CN¥208.60	-42.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.87 £85.34	$76.32 CN¥549.46	-33.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$135.36 £100.57	$86.91 CN¥625.76	-35.8%
Average			-37.4%

London vs. Shenzhen - 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: June 2025

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