Cost of Living · NO vs GB
🇳🇴 Oslo vs 🇬🇧 London: what everyday life costs
Monthly essentials: $2,297 in Norway vs $2,185 in United Kingdom — 4.9% cheaper.
- Essentials, Norway
- $2,297/mo
- Essentials, United Kingdom
- $2,185/mo
- Difference
- -4.9%
- 1-bed city rent, United Kingdom
- $1,567/mo
Biggest differences
Much cheaper in United Kingdom
- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: -5.5%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: -5.5%
- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: -5.5%
Closest to Norway prices
- Jeans (mid-range brand): -1.6%
- Running shoes (brand): -1.6%
- Imported beer, 330ml bottle: -1.6%
The full basket (32 items)
| Item | Norway | United Kingdom | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $1,658 | $1,567 (1,189 GBP) | -5.5% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $1,326 | $1,253 (951 GBP) | -5.5% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $3,031 | $2,865 (2,174 GBP) | -5.5% |
| Food out | |||
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $17.25 | $16.50 (13 GBP) | -4.3% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $71.87 | $68.75 (52 GBP) | -4.3% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $10.58 | $10.16 (8 GBP) | -4% |
| Groceries | |||
| Milk, 1L | $1.07 | $1.03 (1 GBP) | -3.7% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $3.10 | $3.00 (2 GBP) | -3.2% |
| Eggs, dozen | $3.30 | $3.19 (2 GBP) | -3.3% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $9.69 | $9.39 (7 GBP) | -3.1% |
| White rice, 1kg | $3.88 | $3.75 (3 GBP) | -3.3% |
| Apples, 1kg | $4.65 | $4.51 (3 GBP) | -3% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $11.63 | $11.26 (9 GBP) | -3.2% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.94 | $1.88 (1 GBP) | -3.1% |
| Drinks | |||
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $5.75 | $5.50 (4 GBP) | -4.3% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $7.88 | $7.75 (6 GBP) | -1.6% |
| Cappuccino | $4.79 | $4.58 (3 GBP) | -4.4% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $2.23 | $2.16 (2 GBP) | -3.1% |
| Transport | |||
| Public transport, monthly pass | $62.53 | $60.06 (46 GBP) | -3.9% |
| Public transport, one-way | $2.65 | $2.54 (2 GBP) | -4.1% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $3.83 | $3.67 (3 GBP) | -4.2% |
| Taxi, per km | $1.72 | $1.65 (1 GBP) | -4.1% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.94 | $0.92 (1 GBP) | -2.1% |
| Utilities & comms | |||
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $192 | $185 (140 GBP) | -3.9% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $67.34 | $64.68 (49 GBP) | -3.9% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $43.29 | $41.58 (32 GBP) | -3.9% |
| Lifestyle | |||
| Gym membership, month | $47.91 | $45.84 (35 GBP) | -4.3% |
| Cinema seat | $13.42 | $12.83 (10 GBP) | -4.4% |
| Men's haircut | $28.75 | $27.50 (21 GBP) | -4.3% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $54.15 | $53.29 (40 GBP) | -1.6% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $88.62 | $87.20 (66 GBP) | -1.6% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $240 | $229 (174 GBP) | -4.3% |
Estimated from World Bank — Consumption price levels with per-item elasticity — model figures, not quotes. Compare any pair in the interactive tool.
Beyond prices
What each place pays, charges and offers — wages, rent, healthcare, climate, risk and time off. Figures come from the same engines behind the individual tools, so they match what those pages say. They sit about 1,324 km apart as the crow flies.
| Measure | 🇳🇴 Norway | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $6,353 | $3,589 |
| Rent, modelled 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $1,459 | $1,466 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 23% | 40.8% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $1,136 | $853 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 5.0 | 3.3 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Oslo and London. | 59 | 74 |
| Rule of law World Bank WGI. A survey composite, so the band leads, not the decimal. | very strong | strong |
| Country risk INFORM, 0-10. Lower is safer. | 2 (very low) | 2.2 (low) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 12 | 5 + 9 regional |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 5.5 | 8 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 83.2 | 81.4 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 99% | 95.5% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 236.3 | 194.5 |
Cheap for you, or cheap for everyone?
Rent measured twice: against a $6,000/month remote income, and against what people actually earn locally. The gap between the two is the arbitrage — and it is the reason somewhere can be affordable to you and unaffordable to a local at once.
🇳🇴 Norway
-1.3 pts
24.3% of your income vs 23% of a local wage
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
16.4 pts
24.4% of your income vs 40.8% of a local wage
Worked at $6,000/month. Run it on your own income
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Frequently asked questions
- How much cheaper is United Kingdom than Norway?
- A single person's monthly essentials run about $2,185 in United Kingdom versus $2,297 in Norway — 4.9% less. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- What does a beer cost in United Kingdom?
- A domestic draught pint is roughly $5.50 in United Kingdom (≈ 4.17 GBP), versus about $5.75 in Norway.
- How much is rent in United Kingdom compared to Norway?
- A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $1,567/month in United Kingdom versus $1,658/month in Norway (-5.5%). Housing is the most locally-priced item in the basket.
- How are these prices estimated?
- Curated US baseline prices scaled by each country's purchasing-power price level with per-item elasticities (housing 1.4, services 1.1, groceries 0.8, world-priced goods 0.4) — model estimates for orientation, not quotes.