Cost of living in Japan in 2026: cheaper than you think?

Yes, Japan is cheaper than you probably think, and the reason is the yen. At 158.5 yen to the US dollar, a Big Mac costs ¥500 ($3.08), a litre of petrol about ¥171 ($1.08), Netflix Standard ¥1,590 a month ($10.03) and the iPhone 18 Pro ¥219,800 ($1,386). For a visitor earning dollars, euros or pounds, that makes everyday Japan one of the best-value rich countries in our data. For residents, whose average income is about $38,340 in dollar terms, the picture is less rosy.

We track a specific set of prices, not a full household budget: fuel, electricity, Apple’s and Netflix’s Japanese storefront prices, The Economist’s Big Mac Index and World Bank income. Rent, groceries and rail fares aren’t included, so treat this as a guide to what everyday things cost, not a full cost-of-living calculator. Data retrieved 2026-10-13.

The yen, in one number

Almost every price story about Japan right now is really a currency story. Our latest rate is 158.5 yen per dollar, compared with 161.3 when we first recorded it on 2026-07-03: the yen has recovered about 1.8% since then. The bigger picture is longer-term. For most of the late 2010s a dollar bought between roughly 100 and 120 yen; at today’s rate it buys far more. Japanese shop prices have not risen anywhere near enough to offset that, so yen price tags translate into small dollar numbers. The table shows what that means, including an illustrative column at 110 yen to the dollar:

(The Big Mac Index converts at the exchange rate on its own survey date, which is why it quotes $3.08 rather than today’s figure.) The right-hand column is a thought experiment, not a forecast: same yen prices, a stronger currency. It shows how much of Japan’s “cheapness” is exchange rate. See how other currencies look on our insights page.

Cheap for a rich country: food and fuel

The Big Mac is the cleanest test, because the recipe is identical everywhere. At $3.08, the Japanese burger ranks 7th cheapest of all 54 economies in the latest survey and the cheapest among the 19 with average incomes above $30,000. McDonald's Japan has been raising yen prices, from ¥480 in the 2026-01-01 survey to ¥500 now, but not fast enough to change the picture. A Big Mac takes about 10 min of work at Japan’s average wage.

Petrol is similarly modest. At $1.08 a litre, Japan is the 29th-cheapest of 170 countries, unusual for a country that imports virtually all of its oil. Government support for pump prices in recent years has helped, but again the yen does most of the work. See the Japan petrol price page for the trend.

Where Japan is not cheap: electricity

Power is the exception. Japan imports most of the gas and coal its plants burn, and households pay about ¥36 per kWh ($0.227), the 98th-lowest of 134 countries, which puts it in the more expensive half of the table. A small household using 260 kWh a month, an illustrative figure, would spend around ¥9,357 on units alone. Businesses pay $0.200 per kWh. Compare with other countries on the electricity page.

Apple is pricing in the weak yen

Exchange rates don’t stay a free lunch for long. Of the 4 current iPhones Apple also sold in July, it has raised the yen price of every one, by an average of 22%. The iPhone 18 Pro launched at ¥219,800, ¥40,000 more than the ¥179,800 of the iPhone 17 Pro it replaced. Even so, at $1,386 Japan is the 4th-cheapest of the 12 Apple storefronts we track for this model. Japan’s 10% consumption tax is included in that price; eligible visitors can shop tax-free, bringing the effective price to about ¥199,818, or $1,260. Japan is moving its tax-free system to a refund-at-departure model, so check the current rules in our tax-free shopping guide. Full prices for every model are on the iPhone 18 Pro Japan page.

• iPhone Air: ¥159,800 in July, ¥189,800 now (+19%)
• iPhone 17: ¥129,800 in July, ¥159,800 now (+23%)
• iPhone 17e: ¥99,800 in July, ¥124,800 now (+25%)
• iPhone 16: ¥114,800 in July, ¥139,800 now (+22%)

The flip side for people who live there

A weak currency is a discount for visitors and a pay cut, in global terms, for residents. The World Bank converts incomes to dollars using exchange rates, so Japan’s average income of $38,340 (2025) is now within a few percent of South Korea's ($37,880), and well short of Hong Kong's $62,500. Imported goods priced in global terms, like the iPhone, take 13.2 days of that income. How Japan compares with its neighbours and the US:

Taiwan has no World Bank income figure in our data. For a full head-to-head with the US, see Japan vs United States, or the Japan country page for every tracked price.