Cost of living comparison

London, United Kingdom

compared to

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo vs. London Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 38.3% cheaper than London.

Restaurants: pay 59.7% less in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 27.3% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 44.7% less in Tokyo
Housing: pay 51.2% less in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 62.5% less in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 38.2% less in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 39.1% less in Tokyo

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

Tokyo vs. London Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 59.7% less for restaurants

	London	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$25.83 £19.42	$6.51 ¥947	-74.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.33 £7.77	$5.21 ¥758	-49.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 £1.85	$1.12 ¥162	-54.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.85 £1.39	$0.75 ¥108	-59.7%
Average			-59.7%

London vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.3% more for groceries

	London	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.07 £1.56	$1.63 ¥238	-21.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.65 £4.24	$7.01 ¥1,019	+24.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.31 £4.74	$5.89 ¥856	-6.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.45 £3.34	$2.09 ¥303	-53.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.26 £3.20	$3.26 ¥475	-23.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 £1.17	$2.38 ¥346	+52.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 £0.57	$1.06 ¥155	+41.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.44 £1.08	$2.65 ¥385	+84.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 £1.35	$2.42 ¥351	+34.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 £0.52	$1.29 ¥188	+87.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 £0.53	$1.26 ¥184	+80.0%
Average			+27.3%

London vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.7% less for transportation

	London	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.39 £5.56	$4.42 ¥643	-40.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$258.31 £194.16	$58.62 ¥8,522	-77.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,531.14 £27,458.78	$21,767.76 ¥3,164,499	-40.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$35.26 £26.50	$27.88 ¥4,053	-20.9%
Average			-44.7%

London vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 51.2% less for housing

	London	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$41.63 £31.29	$31.86 ¥4,632	-23.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,834.46 £2,130.54	$1,120.28 ¥162,861	-60.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$2,063.73 £1,551.21	$582.98 ¥84,751	-71.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$263.90 £198.36	$134.03 ¥19,485	-49.2%
Average			-51.2%

London vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 62.5% less for childcare

	London	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,333.60 £1,754.06	$533.29 ¥77,528	-77.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,892.30 £20,965.36	$14,506.96 ¥2,108,956	-48.0%
Average			-62.5%

London vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 38.2% less for entertainment and sports

	London	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$8.27 £6.21	$3.26 ¥473	-60.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.80 £3.61	$3.40 ¥495	-29.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$19.76 £14.85	$3.91 ¥568	-80.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.66 £49.36	$67.16 ¥9,763	+2.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$16.14 £12.13	$12.38 ¥1,799	-23.3%
Average			-38.2%

London vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 39.1% less for clothing

	London	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$96.94 £72.87	$52.60 ¥7,647	-45.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.55 £37.99	$36.87 ¥5,360	-27.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.87 £86.34	$63.41 ¥9,219	-44.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$135.36 £101.75	$82.89 ¥12,050	-38.8%
Average			-39.1%

London vs. Tokyo - 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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