Cost of living comparison

Paris, France

compared to

Shanghai, China

Shanghai vs. Paris Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 30.6% cheaper than Paris.

Restaurants: pay 77.0% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 39.5% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 54.7% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 51.1% less in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 70.8% more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.1% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 30.7% less in Shanghai

Expenses including restaurants, transportation, housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Shanghai.

Shanghai vs. Paris Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shanghai instead of Paris, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 77.0% less for restaurants

	Paris	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.08 €14.14	$4.17 CN¥29.97	-74.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.86 €11.31	$5.50 CN¥39.49	-57.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$4.09 €3.60	$0.51 CN¥3.69	-87.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.96 €2.60	$0.32 CN¥2.26	-89.3%
Average			-77.0%

Paris vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 39.5% less for groceries

	Paris	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$2.01 €1.76	$2.01 CN¥14.40
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.23 €9.88	$7.94 CN¥57.02	-29.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.41 €4.75	$8.61 CN¥61.80	+59.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 €4.26	$1.69 CN¥12.11	-65.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.32 €5.56	$1.52 CN¥10.90	-76.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.58 €1.39	$1.03 CN¥7.38	-35.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 €0.93	$0.73 CN¥5.27	-30.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.50 €1.32	$0.92 CN¥6.63	-38.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.78 €1.56	$0.74 CN¥5.33	-58.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 €0.97	$0.43 CN¥3.07	-61.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.06	$0.48 CN¥3.43	-60.5%
Average			-39.5%

Paris vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 54.7% less for transportation

	Paris	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.65 €6.73	$4.40 CN¥31.58	-42.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$92.60 €81.44	$34.79 CN¥249.79	-62.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,688.77 €28,750.53	$20,844.35 CN¥149,674.93	-36.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.84 €21.85	$5.57 CN¥39.97	-77.6%
Average			-54.7%

Paris vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 51.1% less for housing

	Paris	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.65 €29.60	$16.44 CN¥118.08	-51.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,367.25 €1,202.53	$1,017.22 CN¥7,304.24	-25.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,057.37 €929.98	$526.38 CN¥3,779.70	-50.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$188.37 €165.68	$42.67 CN¥306.36	-77.4%
Average			-51.1%

Paris vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 70.8% more for childcare

	Paris	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$756.26 €665.15	$1,147.00 CN¥8,236.17	+51.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,942.48 €14,021.77	$30,296.28 CN¥217,545.50	+90.0%
Average			+70.8%

Paris vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 32.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Paris	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.50 €6.60	$1.39 CN¥9.99	-81.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.31 €3.79	$3.53 CN¥25.33	-18.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.40 €11.78	$3.48 CN¥24.98	-74.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.48 €32.09	$55.86 CN¥401.14	+53.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.93 €12.25	$8.35 CN¥59.95	-40.1%
Average			-32.1%

Paris vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 30.7% less for clothing

	Paris	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$103.81 €91.30	$59.36 CN¥426.25	-42.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.57 €40.96	$38.88 CN¥279.16	-16.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.54 €98.10	$77.91 CN¥559.47	-30.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$148.98 €131.03	$99.07 CN¥711.37	-33.5%
Average			-30.7%

Paris vs. Shanghai - 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: May 2025

More cost comparisons

Paris vs.

Hanoi

Paris vs.

Lima

Paris vs.

Athens

Paris vs.

Canberra

Paris vs.

Warsaw

Paris vs.

Manila

Paris vs.

Madrid

Paris vs.

Vienna

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Add prices for Shanghai

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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