Cost of living in Hong Kong 2026: a monthly budget for one person, a couple and a family

Hong Kong is one of the most expensive places to live, and the main reason is housing. This guide builds a monthly budget line by line, shows where each number comes from and says plainly which totals are our own arithmetic. Figures are as of October 2026 and indicative. We convert at 1 euro = 9.03 Hong Kong dollars, the latest rate we found (OFX, 5 August 2026); the October rate was not found, and a different rate shifts every euro figure. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar.

How to read the numbers

• Most prices come from Numbeo, a crowd-sourced site: 240 contributors and 1,821 entries over 12 months, page updated 20 October 2026. It does not say what its monthly basket without rent contains, so we keep health insurance and school fees out of it and show them separately.
• Totals are our own sum of the lines, not a statistic.
• The Rating and Valuation Department publishes average rents by class on data.gov.hk. We saw the dataset page but not its values, so rents by area below come from Numbeo and an expat guide.

Rent

One-bedroom, per month (Numbeo, October 2026): centre HK$17,945 (about 1,987 euro, range 14,000 to 25,000) and outside the centre HK$13,600 (about 1,506 euro, range 10,000 to 17,000). Three-bedroom: centre HK$40,895 (about 4,529 euro) and outside HK$27,900 (about 3,090 euro).

An expat guide (MoneySmart, 2026) gives HK$13,000 to 18,700 for a centre studio or one-bedroom and HK$9,900 to 13,000 outside the centre, including the New Territories, and says the average flat is about 470 square feet, roughly 44 square metres. An undated university survey found rents per square foot highest on Hong Kong Island, then Kowloon, then the New Territories; treat it as the order of things, not as a price. We found no reliable figure for the outlying islands.

One person

Modest: a one-bedroom outside the centre. - Rent: HK$13,600 (Numbeo, 20 October 2026). - Everything else except rent: HK$8,911 (Numbeo). - Our sum: 13,600 + 8,911 = HK$22,511, about 2,493 euro a month, without health insurance.

Comfortable: a one-bedroom in the centre. - Rent: HK$17,945 (Numbeo). - Everything else except rent: HK$8,911. - Gym: HK$774 (Numbeo); it may overlap with the basket. - Four mid-range dinners for two: 4 x 500 = HK$2,000 (Numbeo); it may overlap too. - Our sum: 17,945 + 8,911 + 774 + 2,000 = HK$29,630, about 3,281 euro a month, without health insurance.

A couple

Our couple budgets are an upper bound: one rent plus twice the single lines. Shared costs make the real figure lower. - Modest: 13,600 + 2 x 8,911 = HK$31,422, about 3,480 euro. - Comfortable: 17,945 + 2 x (8,911 + 774) + 2,000 = HK$39,314, about 4,354 euro.

A family of four

Numbeo gives HK$32,031 a month for a family of four without rent (about 3,547 euro) but does not say how many children it assumes. - Modest: three-bedroom outside the centre HK$27,900 + HK$32,031 = HK$59,931, about 6,637 euro. - Comfortable: three-bedroom in the centre HK$40,895 + HK$32,031 = HK$72,926, about 8,076 euro. - Both exclude school fees, health insurance and a car.

Electricity, transport and food

• Basic utilities for an 85 square metre flat: HK$1,898 (about 210 euro, Numbeo). Broadband costs HK$169 and a mobile plan HK$124 a month.
• Electricity: CLP Power's 2026 average net tariff was set at 140.6 cents per kWh from 1 January 2026, down 2.6%, and HK Electric's at 163.3 cents, down 2.2% (news.gov.hk, 18 November 2025). CLP's interim results say fuel prices lifted its tariff by 4.8% between January and October; that implies roughly 147 cents, our own estimate.
• Transport: a one-way local ticket HK$10.25 and a monthly pass HK$700 (Numbeo; its own note cites a HK$560 average that does not cover every station). Urban taxis start at HK$29, New Territories taxis at HK$25.5 and Lantau taxis at HK$24 (The Standard, apparently May 2026). We did not find a 2026 MTR fare adjustment.
• Food: an inexpensive restaurant meal HK$62.50, about 7 euro, and a mid-range dinner for two HK$500, about 55 euro (Numbeo).

Healthcare

Public fees from 1 January 2026 depend on whether you are an eligible person, which mostly means a Hong Kong identity card holder. Eligible persons pay HK$250 for a specialist clinic visit and HK$150 for a family medicine clinic, plus HK$20 or HK$5 per drug item. Non-eligible persons pay HK$850 and HK$500 per visit, HK$90 and HK$40 per drug item, HK$2,100 for accident and emergency and HK$7,400 a day in a general ward (Hospital Authority). A newcomer without an identity card should plan for the non-eligible rates.

Private care is much more predictable: a Canossa Medical Centre GP consultation costs HK$388 on weekday daytime, HK$500 in the evening and HK$700 overnight, and specialists HK$1,000 to 2,000, drugs and tests extra (from 1 August 2026). Gleneagles cut outpatient consultation fees by up to 40% from 1 July 2026. We found no reliable premiums for expat health insurance, so none are included in the budgets above.

Schools

Numbeo averages HK$175,273 a year for an international primary school (range HK$120,000 to 263,300), about HK$14,606 or 1,618 euro a month per child, and HK$9,131 a month for private full-day preschool. Two children at primary level would add about HK$29,212, about 3,235 euro a month, and the family basket may already include part of it.

ESF figures conflict. One report says Years 1 to 6 would rise from HK$132,500 to 139,000, a guide lists 139,000 for 2025-26 and 145,000 for 2026-27 (unconfirmed), and Renaissance College lists HK$154,200 for 2026-27, approved by the Education Bureau (its admissions page). Capital levies differ too: a guide mentions HK$38,000 non-refundable at Year 1, an ESF notice a refundable HK$25,000 and Renaissance a HK$50,000 building levy. Ask each school for its current schedule.

Costs of renting a home

• Plan for two months' deposit plus one month's rent in advance.
• The agent's commission is about half a month's rent, paid by the tenant according to one guide and by both sides according to another.
• Lease stamp duty is 0.5% of annual rent shared equally according to a 2014-era source; check the Inland Revenue Department. The lease should be stamped within 30 days.
• One guide puts the total up front at about three and a half months' rent, about HK$49,600 for a HK$14,000 rent.

Provident fund and tax in brief

The Mandatory Provident Fund takes 5% of relevant income from the employee and 5% from the employer, on income between HK$7,100 and HK$30,000, so at most HK$1,500 a side (unchanged since 2014). In March 2026 the authority consulted on a HK$40,000 ceiling, which would make the cap HK$2,000; it is under review. We did not verify salaries tax against the Inland Revenue Department and give no rate.

What is cheaper and dearer than expected

• Dearer: housing. A money.co.uk study reported by The Standard in 2026 put rent at 50.25% of monthly outgoings, the highest among the countries it studied. Space is small, about 44 square metres on average.
• Cheaper: a local transit ticket at HK$10.25, a mobile plan at HK$124 and broadband at HK$169.

If you own property here

Running costs and the buying side are covered in the Hong Kong property guide and residence options in visas and residence for investors and property owners. For the mainland, see cost of living in China. For records and curiosities, see Hong Kong's most expensive, smallest and unusual properties; the wider picture is in the China and Hong Kong guide.

FAQ

Is Hong Kong cheaper than other big cities? We do not compare, because budgets built from different sources are not comparable; see cost of living compared in 12 countries for how to read such numbers.

Do I need private health insurance? Non-eligible persons pay several times the public rate for each visit, so many residents rely on employer or private cover. We found no premiums to quote.

How much should I add for school? Use the school's own current schedule. Numbeo's average is about 1,618 euro a month per child, and schools and education for children when relocating abroad helps you compare options.

What this means for a normal resident

• Housing decides the budget: rent is the largest line, and a flat is small.
• Check your health-cover status before you move; see also healthcare for EU residents abroad.
• Treat school fees as a separate decision and ask for the current schedule.
• Budget about three and a half months of rent for moving in.

This is general information, not financial or tax advice, and prices change. If you want a second pair of eyes on a move, an independent buyer-side adviser can help you compare options and bring in a local lawyer; D.H. Realting works from Warsaw as an independent consultant, and you should ask us how we are paid, as you would ask anyone.