Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Southwark and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Southwark: $1,486 a month against $2,381 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $10,700 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Barcelona outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

72

Cost of Living Index in Southwark
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Southwark Living Index
115

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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Southwark

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,486

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,381

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Southwark 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 Southwark and in Barcelona actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,486 in Southwark versus $2,381 in Barcelona.

Southwark $1,486
Barcelona $2,381

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,262 in Southwark versus $3,406 in Barcelona.

Southwark $4,262
Barcelona $3,406

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $7,038 in Southwark versus $4,431 in Barcelona.

Southwark $7,038
Barcelona $4,431

Living in Southwark costs roughly 38% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Southwark 10% above, Barcelona 76% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$25.00 £18.76

$17.89 €15.92

39.74%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$101 £75.6

$66.2 €58.9

52.33%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.67 £8.00

$13.69 €12.18

-22.06%

Cappuccino

$5.70 £4.28

$3.06 €2.72

86.27%

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

$3.05 £2.29

$3.07 €2.73

-0.65%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.60 £1.95

$1.94 €1.73

34.02%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$9.29 £6.97

$3.87 €3.44

140.05%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$8.28 £6.21

$4.61 €4.10

79.61%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.92 £1.44

$1.30 €1.16

47.69%

White Bread (500g)

$2.05 £1.54

$2.10 €1.87

-2.38%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.20 £1.65

$1.83 €1.62

20.22%

Eggs

$4.38 £3.29

$4.62 €4.11

-5.19%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.90 £8.93

$17.36 €15.44

-31.45%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.07 £6.80

$9.28 €8.25

-2.26%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.57 £11.68

$19.83 €17.64

-21.48%

Apples (1kg)

$3.05 £2.29

$3.01 €2.68

1.33%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 £1.08

$2.03 €1.81

-29.06%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.98 £2.24

$2.65 €2.36

12.45%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.52 £2.64

$2.87 €2.55

22.65%

Potato (1kg)

$1.66 £1.25

$2.16 €1.92

-23.15%

Onion (1kg)

$1.79 £1.34

$2.15 €1.91

-16.74%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.36 £1.02

$1.47 €1.31

-7.48%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.86 £1.39

$0.88 €0.79

111.36%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.44 £17.59

$6.93 €6.16

238.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.16 £9.12

$7.83 €6.96

55.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.05 £2.29

$1.39 €1.24

119.42%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.22 £2.42

$2.63 €2.34

22.43%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.89 £2.92

$2.91 €2.59

33.68%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$157 £118

$25.46 €22.64

516.22%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 £3.73

$3.00 €2.66

65.67%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.72 £2.04

$1.44 €1.28

88.89%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$39.66 £29.75

$33.20 €29.53

19.46%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.15 £1.62

$1.86 €1.65

15.59%

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

$37.9K £28.4K

$32.3K €28.8K

17.03%

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

$39.9K £30.0K

$31.7K €28.2K

26.01%

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

$335 £251

$183 €163

83.13%

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

$18.37 £13.78

$13.61 €12.11

34.97%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$40.35 £30.27

$32.93 €29.29

22.53%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$54.7 €48.65

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.52 €14.70

Cinema Ticket

$18.05 £13.54

$11.23 €9.99

60.73%

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

$2,557 £1,919

$954 €849

168.03%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$30.4K £22.8K

$16.6K €14.8K

83.24%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$93.1 £69.9

$86.0 €76.5

8.22%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$46.53 £34.91

$39.11 €34.78

18.97%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$103 £77.5

$104 €92.2

-0.37%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.0 £67.5

$119 €106

-24.18%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,307 £1,731

$1,695 €1,508

36.08%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,276 €1,135

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$5,586 £4,190

$2,576 €2,291

116.85%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,792 £2,844

$1,922 €1,710

97.24%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,281 €6,477

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,010 €4,456

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,185 £3,140

$2,227 €1,981

87.94%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.12

3.28

56.10%

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

Last update for Southwark: October 18, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Southwark

$393 26.5%

Barcelona

$229 9.6% 41.7% $164

Eating Out

Southwark

$386 26%

Barcelona

$270 11.3% 30.2% $117

Groceries & Markets

Southwark

$329 22.2%

Barcelona

$325 13.7% 1.3% $4.4

Getting Around

Southwark

$191 12.9%

Barcelona

$47 2% 75.2% $144

Clothing & Footwear

Southwark

$150 10.1%

Barcelona

$156 6.6% 4.4% $6.6

Sport & Entertainment

Southwark

$36 * 2.4%

Barcelona

$77 3.2% 114% $41

Accommodation & Living

Southwark

- * 0%

Barcelona

$1.3K 53.6%

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 $2,307 in Southwark and $1,695 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Southwark pays 88% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $101 in Southwark vs $66.0 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $329 vs $325 per month, with Barcelona cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Southwark

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

15:23 3:23 PM

16:23 4:23 PM

1 h ahead of Southwark

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

71,552

1,660,122

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

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

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Southwark Barcelona 1,130 km ≈ 2 h nonstop flight

From you

Southwark
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

Southwark vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Southwark and Barcelona differ by about 60% in total monthly costs ($1,486 vs $2,381 including rent). Southwark is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 88% higher in Southwark, 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: $2,307 in Southwark versus $1,695 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,557 in Southwark versus $954 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Barcelona pay roughly 1% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

Both cities are expensive relative to $2,500. Southwark is the more realistic option, but even there you'll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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, Southwark and Barcelona 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 Southwark gentler on the wallet – expenses run 60% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.