Cost of living comparison

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Addis Ababa Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 27.4% more expensive than Addis Ababa.

Restaurants: pay 41.9% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 12.5% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 8.3% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.6% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 12.8% less in Vientiane

The cost of transportation, childcare, and groceries in Vientiane are more expensive than in Addis Ababa. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and housing are lower in Vientiane. Notably, transportation and childcare are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Addis Ababa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Addis Ababa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.9% less for restaurants

	Addis Ababa	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 ETB815.36	$1.98 LAK42,814	-67.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.24 ETB847.34	$2.97 LAK64,221	-52.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ETB106.68	$0.53 LAK11,418	-32.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ETB68.24	$0.42 LAK9,135	-15.8%
Average			-41.9%

Addis Ababa vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.5% more for groceries

	Addis Ababa	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ETB163.29	$0.91 LAK19,694	-24.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.85 ETB659.55	$13.72 LAK296,229	+182.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.08 ETB826.04	$6.42 LAK138,631	+5.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.65 ETB360.01	$1.75 LAK37,803	-33.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.65 ETB767.28	$2.95 LAK63,719	-47.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.30 ETB448.63	$0.88 LAK19,044	-73.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 ETB68.81	$0.49 LAK10,631	-2.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 ETB146.53	$0.92 LAK19,940	-14.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 ETB52.53	$0.60 LAK12,866	+54.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB42.30	$0.73 LAK15,676	+133.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 ETB107.92	$0.46 LAK9,892	-42.3%
Average			+12.5%

Addis Ababa vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Addis Ababa	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.88 ETB663.12	$5.00 LAK108,058	+2.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 ETB1,358.93	$49.23 LAK1,063,162	+392.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 ETB3,397,335.00	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	+13.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.67 ETB498.05	$11.18 LAK241,471	+205.1%
Average			+153.3%

Addis Ababa vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.3% less for housing

	Addis Ababa	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$171.17 ETB23,260.42	$11.17 LAK241,267	-93.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$645.10 ETB87,664.83	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	+33.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$422.74 ETB57,447.88	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	+83.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$124.84 ETB16,964.69	$54.31 LAK1,172,744	-56.5%
Average			-8.3%

Addis Ababa vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Addis Ababa	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$81.47 ETB11,071.68	$332.66 LAK7,183,531	+308.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$43,916.67 ETB5,967,985.15	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	-78.9%
Average			+114.7%

Addis Ababa vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Addis Ababa	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.00 ETB135.89	$0.95 LAK20,485	-5.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.15 ETB156.24	$1.50 LAK32,296	+30.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 ETB543.57	$1.59 LAK34,251	-60.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$90.59 ETB12,311.26	$49.74 LAK1,074,063	-45.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.70 ETB910.49	$3.50 LAK75,664	-47.7%
Average			-25.6%

Addis Ababa vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.8% less for clothing

	Addis Ababa	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.33 ETB6,568.18	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	+77.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB10,214.65	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	-16.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.84 ETB14,791.01	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	-47.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.32 ETB16,215.03	$41.48 LAK895,672	-65.2%
Average			-12.8%

Addis Ababa vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: June 2025

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