Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Quanzhou and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Quanzhou: $809 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $19,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

39

Cost of Living Index in Quanzhou
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Quanzhou Living Index
117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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Quanzhou

🇨🇳 China

$809

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Quanzhou and in Barcelona

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $809 in Quanzhou versus $2,453 in Barcelona.

Quanzhou $809
Barcelona $2,453

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,193 in Quanzhou versus $3,509 in Barcelona.

Quanzhou $1,193
Barcelona $3,509

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,578 in Quanzhou versus $4,564 in Barcelona.

Quanzhou $1,578
Barcelona $4,564

Living in Quanzhou costs roughly 67% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Quanzhou is 41% below, Barcelona is 80% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.27 ¥15.14

$17.59 €15.80

-87.09%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$30.03 ¥200

$67.5 €60.6

-55.50%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$4.89 ¥32.54

$13.53 €12.15

-63.86%

Cappuccino

$3.34 ¥22.24

$3.19 €2.87

4.70%

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

$0.46 ¥3.07

$2.91 €2.62

-84.19%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.29 ¥1.94

$1.89 €1.70

-84.66%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$2.97 ¥19.77

$4.01 €3.60

-25.94%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.85 ¥12.32

$4.53 €4.07

-59.16%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.52 ¥10.12

$1.31 €1.17

16.03%

White Bread (500g)

$0.84 ¥5.56

$2.02 €1.81

-58.42%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$0.93 ¥6.20

$1.85 €1.66

-49.73%

Eggs

$1.55 ¥10.34

$4.83 €4.34

-67.91%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.48 ¥49.80

$16.74 €15.03

-55.32%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$2.28 ¥15.16

$9.12 €8.19

-75.00%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$5.13 ¥34.15

$19.64 €17.64

-73.88%

Apples (1kg)

$1.48 ¥9.86

$2.98 €2.68

-50.34%

Banana (1kg)

$0.93 ¥6.16

$2.02 €1.81

-53.96%

Oranges (1kg)

$0.76 ¥5.07

$2.70 €2.43

-71.85%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.09 ¥7.23

$2.80 €2.52

-61.07%

Potato (1kg)

$0.43 ¥2.88

$2.09 €1.87

-79.43%

Onion (1kg)

$1.00 ¥6.69

$2.07 €1.86

-51.69%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.17 ¥1.12

$1.46 €1.31

-88.36%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.51 ¥3.43

$0.94 €0.84

-45.74%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.26 ¥21.70

$6.87 €6.17

-52.55%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.60 ¥50.6

$7.89 €7.08

-3.68%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.92 ¥6.14

$1.41 €1.26

-34.75%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.32 ¥8.80

$2.54 €2.28

-48.03%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.31 ¥2.08

$3.14 €2.82

-90.13%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$24.35 ¥162

$25.45 €22.86

-4.32%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.17 ¥7.79

$2.99 €2.69

-60.87%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.34 ¥2.26

$1.49 €1.34

-77.18%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$8.81 ¥58.6

$33.37 €29.98

-73.60%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.25 ¥8.35

$1.80 €1.61

-30.56%

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

$18.1K ¥120.4K

$33.2K €29.8K

-45.49%

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

$15.8K ¥105.1K

$31.7K €28.5K

-50.18%

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

$51.8 ¥345

$180 €162

-71.28%

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

$8.13 ¥54.1

$13.84 €12.43

-41.26%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$12.28 ¥81.7

$33.70 €30.27

-63.56%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$55.9 ¥372

$51.5 €46.27

8.60%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$18.53 ¥123

$15.96 €14.34

16.10%

Cinema Ticket

$5.96 ¥39.67

$10.99 €9.88

-45.77%

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

$522 ¥3,475

$917 €823

-43.03%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$11.9K ¥79.2K

$16.5K €14.8K

-27.74%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$20.68 ¥138

$87.0 €78.2

-76.24%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$33.21 ¥221

$38.51 €34.59

-13.76%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$91.0 ¥605

$106 €95.1

-14.04%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$96.1 ¥639

$120 €108

-19.74%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$270 ¥1,795

$1,699 €1,527

-84.13%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$300 ¥1,998

$1,355 €1,217

-77.85%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$490 ¥3,259

$2,603 €2,338

-81.19%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$400 ¥2,662

$2,062 €1,853

-80.60%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,041 ¥20.2K

$6,915 €6,211

-56.01%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,972 ¥13.1K

$5,128 €4,606

-61.54%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$827 ¥5,504

$2,211 €1,986

-62.59%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.15

3.28

-3.96%

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

Last update for Quanzhou: October 26, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Quanzhou

$300 37.1%

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3% 351% $1.1K

Groceries & Markets

Quanzhou

$137 16.9%

Barcelona

$322 13.1% 135% $185

Clothing & Footwear

Quanzhou

$108 13.4%

Barcelona

$158 6.4% 45.7% $50

Eating Out

Quanzhou

$95 11.7%

Barcelona

$268 10.9% 183% $173

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Quanzhou

$72 8.9%

Barcelona

$228 9.3% 216% $156

Sport & Entertainment

Quanzhou

$68 8.4%

Barcelona

$74 3% 8.3% $5.6

Getting Around

Quanzhou

$28 3.5%

Barcelona

$48 2% 70.2% $20

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $270 in Quanzhou and $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 2.7 times 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: $30 in Quanzhou vs $67 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $137 vs $322 per month, with Quanzhou cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇳 Quanzhou

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

02:49 2:49 AM

19:49 7:49 PM

7 h behind Quanzhou

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

8,128,530

1,660,122

💱 Currency

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.135 EUR

1 EUR = 1.11 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to CNY – Chinese Yuan Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇳 Chinese Yuan (¥)

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 6.65 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.41 CNY (1 CNY = 0.135 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.898 EUR (1 EUR = 1.11 USD).

USD to CNY in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Quanzhou Barcelona 10,170 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Quanzhou
Barcelona

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

Quanzhou vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Quanzhou and Barcelona differ by about 203% in total monthly costs ($809 vs $2,453 including rent). Quanzhou is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 63% lower in Quanzhou. 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: $270 in Quanzhou versus $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $522 in Quanzhou versus $917 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 135% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $809 in Quanzhou versus $2,453 in Barcelona, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Quanzhou but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Quanzhou 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.

Expats usually find Quanzhou gentler on the wallet – expenses run 67% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.