Cost of living in Japan
69.0 with the United States at 100
Prices in Japan are 31% cheaper than the United States, and it ranks 57th of 204 countries by price level (dearest first). Figures are for 2025.
Against New Zealand it is 22% cheaper.
Two agencies agree. For 2024, the World Bank's figure works out at 65.7 and Eurostat's at 66.8 — a gap of 1.2 points. Two independent programmes landing within 5 points is the strongest evidence available that the level is right.
Compared with its region
Japan against the East Asia & Pacific countries closest to it on price level.
- Japan 69.0
- Samoa 67.4
- Papua New Guinea 67.0
- Hong Kong SAR, China 74.0
- Korea, Rep. 61.9
- Kiribati 61.7
- Macao SAR, China 61.6
- Tonga 77.9
- Singapore 78.3
SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
What is dear and what is cheap
Eurostat prices 1 spending categories separately for Japan (2024), again with the United States at 100. This is where a national average stops being one number: a country can be cheap to eat in and expensive to drive in.
SOURCE·Eurostat — purchasing power parities (prc_ppp_ind)·Price level indices by consumption category, published on an EU27=100 basis and rebased here to US=100. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
What this figure is, and is not
- It is an index, not a price. 69.0 means the general level of consumer prices, with the US at 100. It is not a shopping bill and this site never quotes one.
- It is national, not city. Tokyo is almost certainly dearer than this. National averages cannot answer a city question.
- It is not your budget. What you actually spend depends on rent, transport and habits far more than on the national average.
Compare Japan with another country
Every pairing below is a page of its own, with the category detail side by side. Nearest on price level first.
How the price level is worked out
- The World Bank publishes a purchasing power parity for household consumption — how much local currency buys the same basket as one US dollar — and the official market exchange rate for the same year.
- The price level is simply PPP ÷ exchange rate × 100. If a basket needs 1.50 New Zealand dollars per US dollar of purchasing power but the market hands you 1.65 New Zealand dollars for that dollar, New Zealand's prices sit at 1.50 ÷ 1.65 = 91% of the US level.
- Nothing is modelled, smoothed or estimated. You can reproduce every number on this site from two public figures.
- Where Eurostat also publishes a price level for the same country and year, the two are compared and the gap is printed — including when they disagree.
SOURCE·World Bank — International Comparison Program·PPP conversion factor for household final consumption, and the official market exchange rate. CC BY 4.0.·REVIEWED AUG 2026
SOURCE·World Bank ICP PPPs + Eurostat price level indices·price levels derived as PPP ÷ exchange rate, see method·REVIEWED AUG 2026
