Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cebu and Kiruna

For one person, living is cheaper in Cebu: $915 a month against $1,747 in Kiruna, rent and utilities included – about $10,000 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

44

Cost of Living Index in Cebu
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Cebu Living Index
85

Cost of Living Index in Kiruna
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Kiruna Living Index

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Cebu

🇵🇭 Philippines

$915

/mo nomad

Kiruna

🇸🇪 Sweden

$1,747

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cebu and in Kiruna

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $915 in Cebu versus $1,747 in Kiruna.

Cebu $915
Kiruna $1,747

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,418 in Cebu versus $2,915 in Kiruna.

Cebu $1,418
Kiruna $2,915

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,921 in Cebu versus $4,082 in Kiruna.

Cebu $1,921
Kiruna $4,082

Living in Cebu costs roughly 48% less than in Kiruna, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cebu is 33% below, Kiruna is 29% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.05 ₱192

$13.82 SEK 137

-77.93%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.00 ₱1,511

$128 SEK 1,270

-81.27%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.99 ₱251

$10.40 SEK 103

-61.63%

Cappuccino

$2.50 ₱157

$4.33 SEK 42.90

-42.26%

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

$1.54 ₱97.1

$2.69 SEK 26.70

-42.75%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.50 ₱31.37

$2.26 SEK 22.37

-77.88%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.78 ₱112

$9.54 SEK 94.5

-81.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.17 ₱136

$6.59 SEK 65.3

-67.07%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.00 ₱126

$1.45 SEK 14.34

37.93%

White Bread (500g)

$1.37 ₱86.2

$2.80 SEK 27.79

-51.07%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.03 ₱64.9

$3.72 SEK 36.83

-72.31%

Eggs

$2.03 ₱128

$3.55 SEK 35.18

-42.82%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.20 ₱642

$12.29 SEK 122

-17.01%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.45 ₱280

$13.80 SEK 137

-67.75%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.67 ₱483

$19.62 SEK 194

-60.91%

Apples (1kg)

$3.31 ₱208

$2.79 SEK 27.66

18.64%

Banana (1kg)

$1.46 ₱91.8

$2.53 SEK 25.12

-42.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.32 ₱146

$2.61 SEK 25.90

-11.11%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.49 ₱94.0

$4.40 SEK 43.63

-66.14%

Potato (1kg)

$2.34 ₱147

$1.47 SEK 14.58

59.18%

Onion (1kg)

$1.94 ₱122

$1.59 SEK 15.77

22.01%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.16 ₱73.0

$2.01 SEK 19.93

-42.29%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.68 ₱42.89

$1.56 SEK 15.46

-56.41%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.99 ₱188

$6.46 SEK 64.0

-53.72%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.24 ₱393

$9.69 SEK 96.1

-35.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.23 ₱77.3

$1.98 SEK 19.65

-37.88%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.73 ₱109

$1.99 SEK 19.75

-13.07%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.23 ₱14.36

$3.22 SEK 31.95

-92.86%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.34 ₱777

$79.4 SEK 787

-84.45%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.79 ₱49.96

$5.85 SEK 57.9

-86.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.22 ₱13.86

$1.68 SEK 16.68

-86.90%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.54 ₱286

$56.9 SEK 563

-92.02%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.32 ₱82.9

$2.11 SEK 20.90

-37.44%

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

$21.0K ₱1.3M

$31.3K SEK 310.1K

-32.89%

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

$19.4K ₱1.2M

$33.3K SEK 329.6K

-41.67%

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

$119 ₱7,464

$95.9 SEK 951

23.57%

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

$14.22 ₱896

$24.86 SEK 246

-42.80%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.47 ₱1,730

$35.94 SEK 356

-23.57%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$32.31 ₱2,034

$37.74 SEK 374

-14.39%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.50 ₱409

$25.04 SEK 248

-74.04%

Cinema Ticket

$5.40 ₱340

$15.92 SEK 158

-66.08%

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

$276 ₱17.4K

$152 SEK 1,506

81.62%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,866 ₱495.3K

$5,610 SEK 55.6K

40.22%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$49.37 ₱3,108

$100 SEK 993

-50.74%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$24.58 ₱1,548

$44.87 SEK 445

-45.22%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$76.6 ₱4,825

$81.8 SEK 810

-6.27%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$58.9 ₱3,706

$139 SEK 1,378

-57.68%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$503 ₱31.7K

$812 SEK 8,047

-38.00%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$305 ₱19.2K

$610 SEK 6,043

-50.07%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 ₱67.7K

$1,363 SEK 13.5K

-21.13%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$632 ₱39.8K

$1,123 SEK 11.1K

-43.72%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,870 ₱180.7K

$3,456 SEK 34.2K

-16.96%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,877 ₱118.2K

$2,527 SEK 25.0K

-25.70%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$336 ₱21.1K

$3,257 SEK 32.3K

-89.69%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.2

80.00%

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

Last update for Cebu: October 19, 2026

Last update for Kiruna: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cebu

$305 33.3%

Kiruna

$610 34.9% 100% $305

Groceries & Markets

Cebu

$210 22.9%

Kiruna

$366 20.9% 74.4% $156

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cebu

$160 17.5%

Kiruna

$157 9% 2.2% $3.5

Clothing & Footwear

Cebu

$94 10.3%

Kiruna

$165 9.4% 74.7% $70

Eating Out

Cebu

$88 9.6%

Kiruna

$274 15.7% 213% $187

Sport & Entertainment

Cebu

$43 4.7%

Kiruna

$70 4% 61.4% $26

Getting Around

Cebu

$15 1.7%

Kiruna

$107 6.1% 603% $91

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $503 in Cebu and $812 in Kiruna. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kiruna pays 870% 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 $128 in Kiruna for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $210 vs $366 per month, with Cebu cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇭 Cebu

🇸🇪 Kiruna

🕒 Local time

02:26 2:26 AM

20:26 8:26 PM

6 h behind Cebu

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

964,169

22,454

💱 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 20, 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 20, 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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Between locations

Cebu Kiruna 9,530 km ≈ 12 h nonstop flight

From you

Cebu
Kiruna

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 Kiruna: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cebu is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, clothing, and eating out. The 91% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 870% lower in Kiruna. 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: $503 in Cebu versus $812 in Kiruna. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $915 per month in Cebu versus $1,747 in Kiruna – a 91% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Cebu runs roughly 543% less than in Kiruna. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $915 in Cebu versus $1,747 in Kiruna, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Cebu but tight or insufficient in Kiruna. 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 Kiruna, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Cebu and Kiruna 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 91% less than in Kiruna. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.