Kuala Lumpur vs Shanghai
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Cost of living
Living in Shanghai is about 128% more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur.
Real buying power
In Shanghai, your money buys 57% less than in Kuala Lumpur.
To live like in Kuala Lumpur, you need about 26,423 CNY net in Shanghai.
net / month
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Kuala Lumpur monthly savings
$369
23% of net
Shanghai monthly savings
$110
7% of net
Cost breakdown (USD / month)
| Kuala Lumpur | Shanghai | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-bed apartment, centre | $628 | $883 |
| 1-bed apartment, outside centre | $373 | $545 |
| 3-bed apartment, centre | $1,195 | $2,263 |
| Room in shared flat | $187 | $414 |
| Buy price per m2 | $4,048 | $13,241 |
| Living cost excl. rent | $599 | $580 |
| net / month | $1,596 | $1,573 |
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Create free accountHow we calculate and where the data comes from
Educational model, not financial, tax or relocation advice. Figures are estimates for 2026 and are rounded to ranges, never exact values. Our cost index is built from open data and adapted by CrawlJobs (aggregated and reweighted); it is not endorsed by the sources.
Sources: Eurostat (free reuse, Commission Decision 2011/833/EU), World Bank Open Data ICP (CC-BY-4.0), US BEA / HUD / Census (public domain), GeoNames (CC-BY-4.0). Source and product names are used for attribution only; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.