Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cebu and Karlskrona

For one person, living is cheaper in Cebu: $918 a month against $1,617 in Karlskrona, rent and utilities included – about $8,400 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

45

Cost of Living Index in Cebu
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Cebu Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Karlskrona
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Karlskrona Living Index

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Cebu

🇵🇭 Philippines

$918

/mo nomad

Karlskrona

🇸🇪 Sweden

$1,617

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cebu and in Karlskrona

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $918 in Cebu versus $1,617 in Karlskrona.

Cebu $918
Karlskrona $1,617

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,409 in Cebu versus $2,525 in Karlskrona.

Cebu $1,409
Karlskrona $2,525

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,900 in Cebu versus $3,434 in Karlskrona.

Cebu $1,900
Karlskrona $3,434

Living in Cebu costs roughly 43% less than in Karlskrona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cebu is 32% below, Karlskrona is 20% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.09 ₱194

$12.71 SEK 126

-75.69%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.22 ₱1,525

$63.9 SEK 633

-62.08%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.92 ₱247

$8.79 SEK 87.1

-55.40%

Cappuccino

$2.51 ₱158

$3.96 SEK 39.23

-36.62%

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

$1.59 ₱100

$1.30 SEK 12.90

22.31%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.53 ₱33.43

$2.19 SEK 21.71

-75.80%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.78 ₱112

$7.04 SEK 69.8

-74.72%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.17 ₱137

$5.09 SEK 50.5

-57.37%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.92 ₱121

$1.45 SEK 14.36

32.41%

White Bread (500g)

$1.36 ₱85.4

$2.78 SEK 27.50

-51.08%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.01 ₱63.5

$3.60 SEK 35.72

-71.94%

Eggs

$2.03 ₱128

$4.38 SEK 43.41

-53.65%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.86 ₱621

$10.82 SEK 107

-8.87%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.39 ₱277

$13.33 SEK 132

-67.07%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.60 ₱479

$17.14 SEK 170

-55.66%

Apples (1kg)

$3.30 ₱208

$2.98 SEK 29.52

10.74%

Banana (1kg)

$1.39 ₱87.8

$2.43 SEK 24.06

-42.80%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.33 ₱147

$2.97 SEK 29.43

-21.55%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 ₱94.3

$4.41 SEK 43.65

-65.99%

Potato (1kg)

$2.36 ₱149

$1.47 SEK 14.59

60.54%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 ₱119

$1.53 SEK 15.20

24.18%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 ₱74.9

$2.10 SEK 20.82

-43.33%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.63 ₱39.71

$1.36 SEK 13.43

-53.68%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.00 ₱189

$7.19 SEK 71.2

-58.28%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.03 ₱379

$12.29 SEK 122

-50.94%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.23 ₱77.7

$1.99 SEK 19.74

-38.19%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.75 ₱110

$1.69 SEK 16.77

3.55%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.25 ₱15.86

$2.92 SEK 28.94

-91.44%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.64 ₱796

$69.8 SEK 691

-81.88%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.77 ₱48.62

$12.92 SEK 128

-94.04%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.23 ₱14.53

$2.02 SEK 20.00

-88.61%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.46 ₱281

$80.5 SEK 798

-94.46%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.31 ₱82.8

$1.73 SEK 17.18

-24.28%

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

$21.2K ₱1.3M

$33.4K SEK 330.6K

-36.34%

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

$19.1K ₱1.2M

$32.8K SEK 324.7K

-41.58%

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

$120 ₱7,569

$51.5 SEK 510

133.68%

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

$14.00 ₱882

$27.15 SEK 269

-48.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.54 ₱1,734

$37.02 SEK 367

-25.61%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$32.33 ₱2,035

$41.67 SEK 413

-22.41%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.65 ₱419

Cinema Ticket

$5.65 ₱356

$16.12 SEK 160

-64.95%

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

$275 ₱17.3K

$159 SEK 1,572

73.59%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,918 ₱498.5K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$49.33 ₱3,106

$98.3 SEK 973

-49.79%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$25.24 ₱1,589

$20.03 SEK 198

26.01%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$77.0 ₱4,846

$79.0 SEK 783

-2.58%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$57.2 ₱3,601

$171 SEK 1,698

-66.61%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$500 ₱31.5K

$664 SEK 6,583

-24.81%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$309 ₱19.4K

$564 SEK 5,585

-45.21%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,078 ₱67.9K

$1,078 SEK 10.7K

-0.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$615 ₱38.7K

$946 SEK 9,373

-34.97%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,886 ₱181.7K

$2,898 SEK 28.7K

-0.42%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,917 ₱120.7K

$2,466 SEK 24.4K

-22.27%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$346 ₱21.8K

$2,479 SEK 24.6K

-86.05%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.2

4.22

70.62%

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

Last update for Cebu: October 12, 2026

Last update for Karlskrona: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cebu

$309 33.6%

Karlskrona

$564 34.9% 82.5% $255

Groceries & Markets

Cebu

$206 22.4%

Karlskrona

$358 22.2% 74% $152

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cebu

$162 17.6%

Karlskrona

$116 7.2% 28.5% $46

Clothing & Footwear

Cebu

$94 10.2%

Karlskrona

$166 10.3% 76.6% $72

Eating Out

Cebu

$88 9.6%

Karlskrona

$235 14.5% 166% $147

Sport & Entertainment

Cebu

$44 4.8%

Karlskrona

$74 4.6% 69.4% $30

Getting Around

Cebu

$16 1.7%

Karlskrona

$104 6.5% 571% $89

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $500 in Cebu and $664 in Karlskrona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Karlskrona pays 617% 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: $24.00 in Cebu vs $64.0 in Karlskrona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $206 vs $358 per month, with Cebu cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇭 Cebu

🇸🇪 Karlskrona

🕒 Local time

20:26 8:26 PM

14:26 2:26 PM

6 h behind Cebu

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

964,169

35,212

💱 Currency

Philippine Peso PHP ₱

Swedish Krona SEK kr

📈 Exchange rate

100 PHP = 1.59 USD

100 PHP = 1.41 EUR

100 SEK = 10.09 USD

100 SEK = 8.98 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SEK, USD, EUR to PHP – Philippine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇭 Philippine Peso (₱)

Philippine Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 62.96 PHP (100 PHP = 1.59 USD). 1 EUR = 70.78 PHP (100 PHP = 1.41 EUR).

Swedish Krona exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 9.91 SEK (1 SEK = 0.101 USD). 1 EUR = 11.14 SEK (100 SEK = 8.98 EUR).

USD to PHP in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Cebu Karlskrona 10,160 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Cebu
Karlskrona

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

Cebu vs Karlskrona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cebu is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, clothing, and eating out. The 76% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 617% lower in Karlskrona. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $500 in Cebu versus $664 in Karlskrona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $918 per month in Cebu versus $1,617 in Karlskrona – a 76% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Cebu runs roughly 452% less than in Karlskrona. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $918 in Cebu versus $1,617 in Karlskrona, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Cebu but tight or insufficient in Karlskrona. The gap between the two cities makes Cebu the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Cebu is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Karlskrona, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Cebu and Karlskrona 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 Cebu gentler on the wallet – expenses run 76% less than in Karlskrona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.