Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Sydney and Nanning

For one person, living is cheaper in Nanning: $730 a month against $3,152 in Sydney, rent and utilities included – about $29,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

155

Cost of Living Index in Sydney
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Sydney Living Index
36

Cost of Living Index in Nanning
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Nanning Living Index

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Sydney

🇦🇺 Australia

$3,152

/mo nomad

Nanning

🇨🇳 China

$730

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Sydney and in Nanning

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,152 in Sydney versus $730 in Nanning.

Sydney $3,152
Nanning $730

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,710 in Sydney versus $1,171 in Nanning.

Sydney $4,710
Nanning $1,171

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $6,268 in Sydney versus $1,612 in Nanning.

Sydney $6,268
Nanning $1,612

Living in Sydney is roughly 332% more expensive than in Nanning, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Sydney is 133% above, Nanning is 46% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.57 A$25.29

$3.05 ¥20.41

476.07%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$91.5 A$132

$20.18 ¥135

353.32%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.96 A$17.21

$5.50 ¥36.78

117.45%

Cappuccino

$4.07 A$5.85

$2.37 ¥15.82

71.73%

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

$2.85 A$4.10

$0.60 ¥4.00

375.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.25 A$3.24

$0.29 ¥1.96

675.86%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.60 A$10.94

$0.88 ¥5.86

763.64%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$7.43 A$10.69

$2.18 ¥14.56

240.83%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 A$2.38

$2.18 ¥14.55

-23.85%

White Bread (500g)

$2.78 A$4.00

$2.30 ¥15.39

20.87%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.42 A$3.49

$1.13 ¥7.53

114.16%

Eggs

$5.64 A$8.12

$2.00 ¥13.36

182.00%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.71 A$16.85

$10.34 ¥69.1

13.25%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.66 A$13.89

$3.97 ¥26.51

143.32%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.75 A$24.10

$17.63 ¥118

-4.99%

Apples (1kg)

$4.07 A$5.85

$1.79 ¥12.00

127.37%

Banana (1kg)

$3.25 A$4.68

$1.27 ¥8.51

155.91%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.44 A$4.96

$1.50 ¥10.05

129.33%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.28 A$6.16

$1.68 ¥11.21

154.76%

Potato (1kg)

$3.28 A$4.72

$0.98 ¥6.55

234.69%

Onion (1kg)

$2.30 A$3.30

$1.19 ¥7.94

93.28%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.30 A$3.31

$0.57 ¥3.83

303.51%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.21 A$1.74

$0.60 ¥4.02

101.67%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$43.71 A$62.9

$4.09 ¥27.37

968.70%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.88 A$19.97

$14.76 ¥98.7

-5.96%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.90 A$5.62

$0.91 ¥6.11

328.57%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.91 A$5.63

$1.56 ¥10.43

150.64%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.04 A$4.38

$0.54 ¥3.62

462.96%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$150 A$216

$15.81 ¥106

850.22%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.38 A$4.86

$1.32 ¥8.86

156.06%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.56 A$2.24

$0.43 ¥2.90

262.79%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$40.01 A$57.6

$7.49 ¥50.1

434.18%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.40 A$2.01

$1.32 ¥8.79

6.06%

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

$29.1K A$41.9K

$23.0K ¥153.6K

26.77%

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

$30.1K A$43.4K

$13.2K ¥88.4K

127.97%

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

$223 A$320

$33.88 ¥227

557.02%

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

$27.16 A$39.08

$14.13 ¥94.5

92.22%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$55.8 A$80.3

$10.83 ¥72.4

415.42%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$74.6 A$107

$73.8 ¥494

1.04%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.99 A$34.52

$7.66 ¥51.2

213.19%

Cinema Ticket

$17.56 A$25.27

$6.77 ¥45.24

159.38%

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

$2,196 A$3,160

$303 ¥2,024

625.62%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$28.2K A$40.6K

$4,424 ¥29.6K

537.21%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$78.4 A$113

$20.13 ¥135

289.62%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$68.4 A$98.5

$30.01 ¥201

128.06%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$111 A$160

$64.0 ¥428

73.70%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$134 A$193

$74.4 ¥498

80.65%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,500 A$3,598

$251 ¥1,681

894.55%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,709 A$2,460

$152 ¥1,016

1024.45%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$4,946 A$7,117

$385 ¥2,572

1185.71%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,022 A$4,349

$298 ¥1,993

913.82%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$13.2K A$18.9K

$3,545 ¥23.7K

271.46%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$8,370 A$12.0K

$1,534 ¥10.3K

445.56%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,113 A$5,919

$682 ¥4,562

502.86%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.84

3.63

60.88%

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

Last update for Sydney: October 11, 2026

Last update for Nanning: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Sydney

$1.7K 54.2%

Nanning

$152 20.8% 91.1% $1.6K

Groceries & Markets

Sydney

$379 12%

Nanning

$244 33.4% 35.5% $134

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Sydney

$306 9.7%

Nanning

$59 8.1% 80.7% $247

Eating Out

Sydney

$299 9.5%

Nanning

$82 11.2% 72.7% $217

Clothing & Footwear

Sydney

$177 5.6%

Nanning

$85 11.6% 52% $92

Getting Around

Sydney

$174 5.5%

Nanning

$21 2.9% 87.6% $152

Sport & Entertainment

Sydney

$110 3.5%

Nanning

$87 12% 20.4% $22

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $2,500 in Sydney and $251 in Nanning. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sydney pays 503% 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: $91.0 in Sydney vs $20.00 in Nanning for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $379 vs $244 per month, with Nanning cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇺 Sydney

🇨🇳 Nanning

🕒 Local time

19:26 7:26 PM

16:26 4:26 PM

3 h behind Sydney

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

4,840,600

8,741,584

💱 Currency

Australian Dollar AUD $

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

1 AUD = 0.695 USD

1 AUD = 0.618 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.133 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CNY, USD, EUR to AUD – Australian Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇺 Australian Dollar ($)

Australian Dollar exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 1.44 AUD (1 AUD = 0.695 USD). 1 EUR = 1.62 AUD (1 AUD = 0.618 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 6.69 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.52 CNY (1 CNY = 0.133 EUR).

USD to AUD in detail →

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Sydney Nanning 7,760 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

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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

Sydney vs Nanning: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Sydney and Nanning differ by about 332% in total monthly costs ($3,152 vs $730 including rent). Nanning is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 503% higher in Sydney, 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: $2,500 in Sydney versus $251 in Nanning. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in Nanning runs roughly 850% less than in Sydney. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

Childcare runs $2,196 in Sydney versus $303 in Nanning. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $730 in Nanning versus $3,152 in Sydney, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Nanning but tight or insufficient in Sydney. The gap between the two cities makes Nanning 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.

Safety-wise, Sydney and Nanning 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 Nanning gentler on the wallet – expenses run 332% less than in Sydney. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.