Cost of Living · SE vs ES
🇸🇪 Stockholm vs 🇪🇸 Barcelona: what everyday life costs
Monthly essentials: $2,129 in Sweden vs $1,516 in Spain — 29% cheaper.
- Essentials, Sweden
- $2,129/mo
- Essentials, Spain
- $1,516/mo
- Difference
- -29%
- 1-bed city rent, Spain
- $1,035/mo
Biggest differences
Much cheaper in Spain
- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: -32%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: -32%
- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: -32%
Closest to Sweden prices
- Petrol/gasoline, 1L: -9.9%
- Running shoes (brand): -10%
- Jeans (mid-range brand): -10%
The full basket (32 items)
| Item | Sweden | Spain | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $1,522 | $1,035 (916 EUR) | -32% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $1,217 | $828 (733 EUR) | -32% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $2,783 | $1,892 (1,674 EUR) | -32% |
| Food out | |||
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $16.13 | $11.91 (11 EUR) | -26% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $67.20 | $49.63 (44 EUR) | -26% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $9.96 | $7.56 (7 EUR) | -24% |
| Groceries | |||
| Milk, 1L | $1.02 | $0.81 (1 EUR) | -21% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $2.95 | $2.37 (2 EUR) | -20% |
| Eggs, dozen | $3.14 | $2.52 (2 EUR) | -20% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $9.23 | $7.41 (7 EUR) | -20% |
| White rice, 1kg | $3.69 | $2.96 (3 EUR) | -20% |
| Apples, 1kg | $4.43 | $3.55 (3 EUR) | -20% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $11.08 | $8.89 (8 EUR) | -20% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.85 | $1.48 (1 EUR) | -20% |
| Drinks | |||
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $5.38 | $3.97 (4 EUR) | -26% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $7.69 | $6.88 (6 EUR) | -11% |
| Cappuccino | $4.48 | $3.31 (3 EUR) | -26% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $2.12 | $1.70 (2 EUR) | -20% |
| Transport | |||
| Public transport, monthly pass | $58.83 | $44.66 (40 EUR) | -24% |
| Public transport, one-way | $2.49 | $1.89 (2 EUR) | -24% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $3.58 | $2.65 (2 EUR) | -26% |
| Taxi, per km | $1.61 | $1.19 (1 EUR) | -26% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.91 | $0.82 (1 EUR) | -9.9% |
| Utilities & comms | |||
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $181 | $137 (122 EUR) | -24% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $63.35 | $48.09 (43 EUR) | -24% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $40.73 | $30.92 (27 EUR) | -24% |
| Lifestyle | |||
| Gym membership, month | $44.80 | $33.08 (29 EUR) | -26% |
| Cinema seat | $12.54 | $9.26 (8 EUR) | -26% |
| Men's haircut | $26.88 | $19.85 (18 EUR) | -26% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $52.85 | $47.33 (42 EUR) | -10% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $86.48 | $77.45 (69 EUR) | -10% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $224 | $165 (146 EUR) | -26% |
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 2,315 km apart as the crow flies.
| Measure | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 🇪🇸 Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $4,250 | $2,742 |
| Rent, 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $1,373 | $542 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 32.3% | 19.8% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $868 | $648 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 4.4 | 4.3 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Stockholm and Barcelona. | 62 | 117 |
| 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. | 2.7 (low) | 2.5 (low) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 16 | 10 + 22 regional |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 4.8 | 8.3 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 84.1 | 83.9 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 95.8% | 95.8% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 217.6 | 325.8 |
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.
🇸🇪 Sweden
9.4 pts
22.9% of your income vs 32.3% of a local wage
🇪🇸 Spain
10.8 pts
9% of your income vs 19.8% of a local wage
Worked at $6,000/month. Run it on your own income
Related
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Sweden compared with
Frequently asked questions
- How much cheaper is Spain than Sweden?
- A single person's monthly essentials run about $1,516 in Spain versus $2,129 in Sweden — 29% less. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- What does a beer cost in Spain?
- A domestic draught pint is roughly $3.97 in Spain (≈ 3.51 EUR), versus about $5.38 in Sweden.
- How much is rent in Spain compared to Sweden?
- A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $1,035/month in Spain versus $1,522/month in Sweden (-32%). 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.