Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Surabaya

For one person, living is cheaper in Surabaya: $674 a month against $2,381 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $20,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

115

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index
33

Cost of Living Index in Surabaya
Learn more

Surabaya Living Index

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Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,381

/mo nomad

Surabaya

🇮🇩 Indonesia

$674

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Surabaya

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 Surabaya actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,381 in Barcelona versus $674 in Surabaya.

Barcelona $2,381
Surabaya $674

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,406 in Barcelona versus $1,173 in Surabaya.

Barcelona $3,406
Surabaya $1,173

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,431 in Barcelona versus $1,672 in Surabaya.

Barcelona $4,431
Surabaya $1,672

Living in Barcelona is roughly 253% more expensive than in Surabaya, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 76% above, Surabaya is 50% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.89 €15.92

$1.63 Rp 29.3K

997.55%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$66.2 €58.9

$11.26 Rp 202.7K

487.57%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.69 €12.18

$3.14 Rp 56.5K

335.99%

Cappuccino

$3.06 €2.72

$1.56 Rp 28.0K

96.15%

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

$3.07 €2.73

$0.55 Rp 9,867

458.18%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.94 €1.73

$0.26 Rp 4,619

646.15%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.87 €3.44

$2.16 Rp 38.9K

79.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 €4.10

$4.14 Rp 74.5K

11.35%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.30 €1.16

$1.25 Rp 22.5K

4.00%

White Bread (500g)

$2.10 €1.87

$1.27 Rp 22.9K

65.35%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.83 €1.62

$0.83 Rp 15.0K

120.48%

Eggs

$4.62 €4.11

$1.18 Rp 21.2K

291.53%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.36 €15.44

$7.75 Rp 139.4K

124.00%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.28 €8.25

$3.08 Rp 55.5K

201.30%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.83 €17.64

$7.75 Rp 139.4K

155.87%

Apples (1kg)

$3.01 €2.68

$2.02 Rp 36.3K

49.01%

Banana (1kg)

$2.03 €1.81

$1.29 Rp 23.2K

57.36%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.65 €2.36

$1.89 Rp 34.0K

40.21%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.87 €2.55

$1.49 Rp 26.9K

92.62%

Potato (1kg)

$2.16 €1.92

$1.36 Rp 24.4K

58.82%

Onion (1kg)

$2.15 €1.91

$1.90 Rp 34.2K

13.16%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.31

$0.89 Rp 16.0K

65.17%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.88 €0.79

$0.39 Rp 7,029

125.64%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.93 €6.16

$1.98 Rp 35.7K

250.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.83 €6.96

$25.14 Rp 452.5K

-68.85%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 €1.24

$1.74 Rp 31.3K

-20.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.63 €2.34

$2.83 Rp 50.9K

-7.07%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.91 €2.59

$0.35 Rp 6,237

731.43%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.46 €22.64

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.00 €2.66

$0.46 Rp 8,282

552.17%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.44 €1.28

$0.42 Rp 7,542

242.86%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.20 €29.53

$2.58 Rp 46.4K

1186.82%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.86 €1.65

$0.88 Rp 15.8K

111.36%

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

$32.3K €28.8K

$24.6K Rp 443.1M

31.37%

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

$31.7K €28.2K

$32.3K Rp 581.0M

-1.77%

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

$183 €163

$87.3 Rp 1.6M

109.30%

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

$13.61 €12.11

$4.57 Rp 82.2K

197.81%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.93 €29.29

$19.05 Rp 342.9K

72.86%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$54.7 €48.65

$17.92 Rp 322.6K

205.19%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.52 €14.70

$6.66 Rp 119.9K

148.05%

Cinema Ticket

$11.23 €9.99

$2.64 Rp 47.5K

325.38%

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

$954 €849

$277 Rp 5.0M

244.29%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.6K €14.8K

$9,324 Rp 167.8M

78.07%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$86.0 €76.5

$70.9 Rp 1.3M

21.34%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.11 €34.78

$38.58 Rp 694.4K

1.37%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$104 €92.2

$80.8 Rp 1.5M

28.35%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$119 €106

$75.1 Rp 1.4M

57.92%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,695 €1,508

$282 Rp 5.1M

500.33%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,276 €1,135

$144 Rp 2.6M

784.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,576 €2,291

$1,238 Rp 22.3M

107.97%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,922 €1,710

$601 Rp 10.8M

219.84%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,281 €6,477

$2,161 Rp 38.9M

236.99%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,010 €4,456

$1,072 Rp 19.3M

367.41%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,227 €1,981

$271 Rp 4.9M

723.21%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

7.5

-56.27%

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

Last update for Barcelona: October 20, 2026

Last update for Surabaya: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.3K 53.6%

Surabaya

$144 21.4% 88.7% $1.1K

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$325 13.7%

Surabaya

$209 31% 35.8% $116

Eating Out

Barcelona

$270 11.3%

Surabaya

$63 9.4% 76.5% $206

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$229 9.6%

Surabaya

$111 16.5% 51.6% $118

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$156 6.6%

Surabaya

$119 17.7% 23.6% $37

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$77 3.2%

Surabaya

$23 3.4% 69.9% $54

Getting Around

Barcelona

$47 2%

Surabaya

$3.9 * 0.6% 91.7% $43

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,695 in Barcelona and $282 in Surabaya. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays 723% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $66.0 in Barcelona vs $11.00 in Surabaya for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $325 vs $209 per month, with Surabaya cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇮🇩 Surabaya

🕒 Local time

17:16 5:16 PM

22:16 10:16 PM

5 h ahead of Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

2,765,487

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Indonesian Rupiah IDR Rp

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD

100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

IDR, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Indonesian Rupiah exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18,000 IDR (100,000 IDR = 5.56 USD). 1 EUR = 20,236 IDR (100,000 IDR = 4.94 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Barcelona Surabaya 12,250 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Surabaya

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 Surabaya: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Barcelona and Surabaya differ by about 253% in total monthly costs ($2,381 vs $674 including rent). Surabaya is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 723% higher in Barcelona, 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: $1,695 in Barcelona versus $282 in Surabaya. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $954 in Barcelona versus $277 in Surabaya. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Surabaya – a meal for two runs $11.00 versus $66.0 in Barcelona. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $674 in Surabaya versus $2,381 in Barcelona, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Surabaya but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Surabaya the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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 Surabaya are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Surabaya gentler on the wallet – expenses run 253% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.