Pricele #44: Apples (1 kg) in China 🇨🇳
The puzzle for 13 August 2026 asked what a kilogram of apples costs in China. Here is the answer and the context behind it.
The answer
Apples (1 kg) · China
$1.83
12.39 CNY
About 20 minutes of the average local wage buys a kilogram of apples.
Cheaper than 87% of the 32 countries in the game.
Source: Numbeo (crowd-sourced), retrieved 2026-08.
About apples
Apples separate the countries that grow them from the countries that fly them in. They need a temperate climate and cold storage, so in tropical and high-income import markets a kilogram can cost several times what it does in a producing country, which is why the top of this table looks nothing like the top of the others.
Where China sits
Of the 32 countries priced for apples, China ranks #28 from the top at $1.83, 36% below the median of $2.84.
Chinese prices vary enormously between tier-one cities and smaller ones, so a single national figure hides a wide spread. Imported and branded goods carry a premium; domestically produced staples are among the cheapest in the game. VAT is banded rather than flat, at 13%, 9% or 6% depending on category, with food and agricultural products at 9%, which means the tax wedge itself differs between two items in the same basket. Read the Chinese column as an urban average with a wide error bar around it, not as a price any particular shopper pays.
| Nearby on the apples table | USD | Local | Work time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | $1.80 | 85.59 TRY | 27 min |
| South Africa | $1.80 | 29.79 ZAR | 24 min |
| China | $1.83 | 12.39 CNY | 20 min |
| India | $1.94 | 185.26 INR | 47 min |
| Saudi Arabia | $2.22 | 8.33 SAR | 11 min |
What else costs what in China
| Item | USD | Local | Work time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Mac | $3.66 | 25.5 CNY | 40 min |
| Coca-Cola (330ml can) | $0.48 | 3.5 CNY | 5 min |
| Cappuccino | $2.96 | 20.04 CNY | 32 min |
| Milk (1 litre) | $1.79 | 12.12 CNY | 20 min |
| Eggs (dozen) | $1.58 | 10.69 CNY | 17 min |
| Gasoline (1 litre) | $1.24 | 8.39 CNY | 14 min |
| Diesel (1 litre) | $1.10 | 7.44 CNY | 12 min |
| Electricity (100 kWh) | $7.90 | 53.2 CNY | 86 min |
| Natural gas (100 kWh) | $5.10 | 34.7 CNY | 56 min |
| Cigarettes (20-pack) | $2.49 | 17.99 CNY | 27 min |
| Beer (330ml) | $0.54 | 3.89 CNY | 6 min |
| Spirits (750ml bottle) | $3.32 | 24 CNY | 36 min |
| Mobile data (1 GB) | $0.38 | — | 4 min |
| A day's healthy diet | $1.75 | 12.6 CNY | 19 min |
Go deeper
See the full table for apples in every country or everything priced in China.