Beijing vs London - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Beijing	London
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1016	$3296
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2879	$7841
🏠 One person rent	$575	$2211
🏘️ Family rent	$1275	$4100
🍽️ Food expenses	$245	$551
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$375
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1443	$4153
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	75	99
🏙️ Population	21.9M	8.8M

The cost of living in Beijing is 69% less expensive than in London. Cities ranked 5387th and 58th ($1016 vs $3296) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 7th and 2nd in China and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check China vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Beijing compared to 1.3 months in London. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs London ranked 1st in the United Kingdom, while ranked 989th and 4th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs London infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/beijing/london.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Beijing vs London infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/beijing/london" target="_blank">Beijing vs London - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Beijing vs London

Prices for goods and services in Beijing and London are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Beijing	London
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.86	$21.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$84
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.36	$9.67
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$8.03
☕ Cappuccino	$3.58	$4.64
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$2.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$819	$2704
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$1831
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1965	$5123
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1021	$3478
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.6	$167
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$51.7	$255
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$38.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	5.06%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14717	$20412
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6695	$10524
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$3.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.3	$91.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.77	$30.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.12	$1.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.53
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.46	$1.86
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.84	$4.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$11
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$8.95
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.64	$13.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$2.95
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$2.99
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$3.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$1.43
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.96	$1.59
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$1.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.33	$2.87
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.26	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.83	$2.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.43	$20.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.49	$3.29
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.51	$5.99
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$2.7
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.93	$2.61
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.9	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.3	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.2	$69.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.62	$15.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$60.8	$97.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$76.9	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$698	$2250
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22456	$26090

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$729
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$756
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$644
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$649
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$586
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$680
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$472
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$665
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$702
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$634
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$592
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$711
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$679
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$655
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$584
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$642
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$635
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$618
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$581
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$533
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$544
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$564
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$524
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$642
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$638
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$481
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$703
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$590
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$664
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$638
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$616
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$624
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$600
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$620
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$815

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$2868
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2332
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2273
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2414
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2209
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2207
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2214
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2185
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2470
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2136
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2217
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2261
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2076
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2112
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2433
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2199
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2035
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2122
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2429
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2052
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2048
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2623
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2052
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$1924
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2422
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2092
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$1987
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2248
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1973
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2063
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2089
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2062
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$1885
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2263
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$1948
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2135
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2344
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2009