Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between London and Gothenburg

For one person, living is cheaper in Gothenburg: $2,042 a month against $4,086 in London, rent and utilities included – about $24,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

196

Cost of Living Index in London
Learn more

London Living Index
99

Cost of Living Index in Gothenburg
Learn more

Gothenburg Living Index

Jump to prices

London

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$4,086

/mo nomad

Gothenburg

🇸🇪 Sweden

$2,042

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in London and in Gothenburg

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $4,086 in London versus $2,042 in Gothenburg.

London $4,086
Gothenburg $2,042

Estimated couple costs with rent: $5,816 in London versus $3,064 in Gothenburg.

London $5,816
Gothenburg $3,064

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $7,546 in London versus $4,086 in Gothenburg.

London $7,546
Gothenburg $4,086

Living in London is roughly 100% more expensive than in Gothenburg, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: London 205% above, Gothenburg 52% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$26.62 £20.11

$12.84 SEK 128

107.32%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$108 £81.3

$83.5 SEK 834

28.87%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.39 £7.85

$12.20 SEK 122

-14.84%

Cappuccino

$5.79 £4.38

$4.81 SEK 48.09

20.37%

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

$3.01 £2.27

$2.81 SEK 28.09

7.12%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.15 £1.63

$2.25 SEK 22.46

-4.44%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$9.35 £7.06

$7.07 SEK 70.7

32.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$7.84 £5.93

$7.29 SEK 72.8

7.54%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.79 £1.35

$1.65 SEK 16.48

8.48%

White Bread (500g)

$2.06 £1.56

$2.81 SEK 28.12

-26.69%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.31 £1.74

$3.23 SEK 32.25

-28.48%

Eggs

$5.05 £3.82

$3.75 SEK 37.44

34.67%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.57 £9.50

$11.21 SEK 112

12.13%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$10.66 £8.05

$11.49 SEK 115

-7.22%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.13 £12.94

$16.27 SEK 163

5.29%

Apples (1kg)

$3.03 £2.29

$2.99 SEK 29.85

1.34%

Banana (1kg)

$1.41 £1.07

$2.50 SEK 24.98

-43.60%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.05 £2.31

$2.98 SEK 29.79

2.35%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.38 £2.56

$4.33 SEK 43.27

-21.94%

Potato (1kg)

$1.67 £1.26

$1.80 SEK 18.03

-7.22%

Onion (1kg)

$1.73 £1.31

$1.69 SEK 16.86

2.37%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.41 £1.07

$1.97 SEK 19.66

-28.43%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.79 £1.35

$1.57 SEK 15.74

14.01%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.22 £17.55

$8.17 SEK 81.6

184.21%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.99 £9.82

$14.70 SEK 147

-11.63%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.18 £2.40

$1.99 SEK 19.88

59.80%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.41 £3.33

$2.24 SEK 22.41

96.87%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.87 £2.93

$3.59 SEK 35.89

7.80%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$250 £189

$86.4 SEK 863

189.51%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.71 £4.31

$6.03 SEK 60.2

-5.31%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 £2.51

$1.64 SEK 16.43

103.05%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$57.9 £43.76

$58.9 SEK 588

-1.65%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.04 £1.54

$1.72 SEK 17.24

18.60%

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

$37.5K £28.4K

$32.4K SEK 323.7K

15.92%

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

$40.9K £30.9K

$33.4K SEK 333.7K

22.49%

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

$376 £284

$101 SEK 1,012

271.23%

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

$17.88 £13.51

$19.36 SEK 193

-7.64%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.01 £30.24

$33.87 SEK 338

18.13%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$61.2 £46.22

$34.60 SEK 346

76.76%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.07 £15.93

$24.33 SEK 243

-13.40%

Cinema Ticket

$17.95 £13.57

$18.36 SEK 183

-2.23%

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

$2,865 £2,165

$223 SEK 2,229

1184.71%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$35.3K £26.7K

$4,448 SEK 44.5K

694.52%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$116 £87.7

$87.0 SEK 869

33.41%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$54.1 £40.87

$33.02 SEK 330

63.78%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$127 £95.7

$85.8 SEK 857

47.64%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$159 £120

$132 SEK 1,323

20.39%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,853 £2,156

$1,035 SEK 10.3K

175.76%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,301 £1,739

$928 SEK 9,273

148.02%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$5,201 £3,931

$1,768 SEK 17.7K

194.26%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,723 £2,813

$1,386 SEK 13.8K

168.64%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$19.0K £14.4K

$6,117 SEK 61.1K

210.73%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$7,881 £5,955

$3,377 SEK 33.8K

133.35%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,818 £3,641

$3,444 SEK 34.4K

39.87%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.65

3.06

51.96%

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

Last update for London: October 4, 2026

Last update for Gothenburg: October 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

London

$2.3K 56.5%

Gothenburg

$928 45.4% 59.7% $1.4K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

London

$434 10.7%

Gothenburg

$155 7.6% 64.4% $279

Eating Out

London

$397 9.7%

Gothenburg

$267 13.1% 32.6% $129

Groceries & Markets

London

$349 8.6%

Gothenburg

$355 17.4% 1.7% $5.9

Getting Around

London

$288 7.1%

Gothenburg

$115 5.6% 60.1% $173

Clothing & Footwear

London

$205 5%

Gothenburg

$152 7.4% 25.9% $53

Sport & Entertainment

London

$97 2.4%

Gothenburg

$71 3.5% 26.5% $26

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $2,853 in London and $1,035 in Gothenburg. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

London pays 40% 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: $108 in London vs $83.0 in Gothenburg. Groceries flip the comparison at $349 vs $355, with London cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇬🇧 London

🇸🇪 Gothenburg

🕒 Local time

12:31 12:31 PM

13:31 1:31 PM

1 h ahead of London

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

8,908,083 Capital

607,882

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Swedish Krona SEK kr

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.32 USD

1 GBP = 1.18 EUR

100 SEK = 10.01 USD

100 SEK = 8.93 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SEK, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 0.756 GBP (1 GBP = 1.32 USD). 1 EUR = 0.847 GBP (1 GBP = 1.18 EUR).

Swedish Krona exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 9.99 SEK (1 SEK = 0.1 USD). 1 EUR = 11.2 SEK (100 SEK = 8.93 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

London Gothenburg 1,040 km ≈ 1 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

London
Gothenburg

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

London vs Gothenburg: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Gothenburg wins on cost – living expenses run 100% lower than in London. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Gothenburg the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 40% higher in London, 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: $2,853 in London versus $1,035 in Gothenburg. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,865 in London versus $223 in Gothenburg. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in London pay roughly 2% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $2,042 in Gothenburg versus $4,086 in London, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Gothenburg but tight or insufficient in London. The gap between the two cities makes Gothenburg the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both work as nomad bases, but Gothenburg delivers better value – similar infrastructure at $2,042 monthly. If stretching your runway or maximizing savings is the goal, the price difference makes Gothenburg hard to pass up.

Safety-wise, London and Gothenburg 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 Gothenburg gentler on the wallet – expenses run 100% less than in London. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.