Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Labuan

For one person, living is cheaper in Labuan: $969 a month against $2,443 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $17,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index
46

Cost of Living Index in Labuan
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Labuan Living Index

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Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,443

/mo nomad

Labuan

🇲🇾 Malaysia

$969

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Labuan

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Barcelona and in Labuan actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,443 in Barcelona versus $969 in Labuan.

Barcelona $2,443
Labuan $969

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,519 in Barcelona versus $1,507 in Labuan.

Barcelona $3,519
Labuan $1,507

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,595 in Barcelona versus $2,045 in Labuan.

Barcelona $4,595
Labuan $2,045

Living in Barcelona is roughly 152% more expensive than in Labuan, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 81% above, Labuan is 28% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.66 €15.69

$5.45 MYR 22.14

224.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.5 €59.9

$24.74 MYR 100

172.72%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.61 €12.09

$6.91 MYR 28.07

96.96%

Cappuccino

$3.10 €2.75

$3.96 MYR 16.07

-21.72%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.00 €2.67

$1.07 MYR 4.33

180.37%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.93 €1.71

$0.41 MYR 1.67

370.73%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.84 €3.41

$3.82 MYR 15.53

0.52%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.36 €3.87

$4.63 MYR 18.79

-5.83%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.25 €1.11

$1.77 MYR 7.18

-29.38%

White Bread (500g)

$2.12 €1.89

$1.05 MYR 4.25

101.90%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.97 €1.75

$1.44 MYR 5.86

36.81%

Eggs

$4.76 €4.23

$2.26 MYR 9.18

110.62%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.07 €15.16

$16.79 MYR 68.2

1.67%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.96 €7.96

$4.54 MYR 18.42

97.36%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$20.65 €18.34

$9.39 MYR 38.14

119.91%

Apples (1kg)

$3.16 €2.81

$3.28 MYR 13.31

-3.66%

Banana (1kg)

$1.97 €1.75

$1.67 MYR 6.80

17.96%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.65 €2.36

$2.52 MYR 10.23

5.16%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.88 €2.56

$1.58 MYR 6.41

82.28%

Potato (1kg)

$2.06 €1.83

$1.21 MYR 4.93

70.25%

Onion (1kg)

$2.18 €1.94

$1.38 MYR 5.58

57.97%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.53 €1.36

$1.18 MYR 4.81

29.66%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.97 €0.86

$0.52 MYR 2.10

86.54%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.97 €6.19

$4.30 MYR 17.45

62.09%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.89 €7.01

$19.07 MYR 77.5

-58.63%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.42 €1.26

$2.98 MYR 12.10

-52.35%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.69 €2.39

$4.44 MYR 18.02

-39.41%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.31 €2.94

$0.70 MYR 2.84

372.86%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.61 €22.75

$12.19 MYR 49.50

110.09%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.08 €2.74

$1.20 MYR 4.88

156.67%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.48 €1.32

$0.58 MYR 2.34

155.17%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$32.87 €29.20

$7.38 MYR 29.96

345.39%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.87 €1.66

$0.77 MYR 3.15

142.86%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$33.0K €29.3K

$44.4K MYR 180.4K

-25.78%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$31.9K €28.4K

$35.9K MYR 145.8K

-11.02%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$183 €162

$48.90 MYR 199

273.93%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$14.24 €12.65

$9.66 MYR 39.24

47.41%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$34.56 €30.70

$28.73 MYR 117

20.29%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.4 €45.68

$37.51 MYR 152

37.08%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.38 €14.55

$6.74 MYR 27.36

143.03%

Cinema Ticket

$11.06 €9.83

$4.39 MYR 17.82

151.94%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$944 €838

$241 MYR 979

291.46%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$22.3K €19.8K

$6,912 MYR 28.1K

222.14%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.7 €77.9

$55.2 MYR 224

58.75%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.77 €34.44

$34.25 MYR 139

13.20%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$105 €92.9

$81.9 MYR 333

27.62%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$118 €105

$76.3 MYR 310

54.17%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,697 €1,507

$409 MYR 1,661

314.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,337 €1,187

$291 MYR 1,181

359.78%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,692 €2,391

$732 MYR 2,973

267.81%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,077 €1,845

$557 MYR 2,262

272.98%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,155 €6,356

$1,970 MYR 8,003

263.12%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,079 €4,512

$1,191 MYR 4,839

326.28%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,241 €1,991

$362 MYR 1,471

518.86%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.19

4.06

-21.43%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Barcelona: November 2, 2026

Last update for Labuan: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.3K 54.7%

Labuan

$291 30% 78.3% $1K

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$328 13.4%

Labuan

$268 27.6% 18.3% $60

Eating Out

Barcelona

$267 10.9%

Labuan

$146 15.1% 45.3% $121

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$232 9.5%

Labuan

$87 9% 62.3% $144

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$157 6.4%

Labuan

$111 11.5% 29% $45

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$74 3%

Labuan

$46 4.8% 37.1% $27

Getting Around

Barcelona

$49 2%

Labuan

$19 2% 61.3% $30

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,697 in Barcelona and $409 in Labuan. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 6.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $67 in Barcelona vs $25 in Labuan for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $328 vs $268 per month, with Labuan cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇲🇾 Labuan

🕒 Local time

08:53 8:53 AM

15:53 3:53 PM

7 h ahead of Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

95,120

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Malaysian Ringgit MYR RM

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.13 USD

1 MYR = 0.246 USD

1 MYR = 0.219 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MYR, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 0.888 EUR (1 EUR = 1.13 USD).

Malaysian Ringgit exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 4.06 MYR (1 MYR = 0.246 USD). 1 EUR = 4.56 MYR (1 MYR = 0.219 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Barcelona Labuan 11,500 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Labuan

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Barcelona vs Labuan: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,443 in Barcelona and $969 in Labuan, so Labuan is about 60% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Barcelona is about 6.2 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,697 in Barcelona versus $409 in Labuan. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $944 in Barcelona versus $241 in Labuan. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 22% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Barcelona and Labuan are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

Expats usually find Labuan gentler on the wallet – expenses run 60% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.