Cost of living comparison

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Ashgabat Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 2.7 times more expensive than Ashgabat.

Restaurants: pay 78.6% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 57.8% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 2.7 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 48.9% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 14.6 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 79.2% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 47.1% less in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Ashgabat Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Ashgabat, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 78.6% less for restaurants

	Ashgabat	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$34.54 TMT120.90	$1.98 LAK42,771	-94.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.82 TMT44.87	$2.97 LAK64,156	-76.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.24 TMT11.34	$0.53 LAK11,406	-83.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 TMT3.66	$0.42 LAK9,126	-59.5%
Average			-78.6%

Ashgabat vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 57.8% less for groceries

	Ashgabat	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$2.39 TMT8.35	$0.91 LAK19,674	-61.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$17.90 TMT62.65	$13.72 LAK295,931	-23.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$16.12 TMT56.43	$6.42 LAK138,492	-60.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 TMT23.93	$1.75 LAK37,765	-74.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.38 TMT18.85	$2.95 LAK63,655	-45.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.71 TMT9.50	$0.88 LAK19,025	-67.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$4.01 TMT14.02	$0.49 LAK10,620	-87.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.65 TMT12.78	$0.92 LAK19,920	-74.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.71 TMT5.99	$0.60 LAK12,853	-65.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 TMT3.62	$0.73 LAK15,660	-29.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 TMT2.94	$0.46 LAK9,882	-45.5%
Average			-57.8%

Ashgabat vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.7 times more for transportation

	Ashgabat	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.56 TMT5.47	$5.00 LAK107,949	+220.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.55 TMT29.91	$49.23 LAK1,062,092	+476.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$43,803.42 TMT153,311.97	$28,330.27 LAK611,154,737	-35.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.69 TMT33.90	$11.18 LAK241,228	+15.4%
Average			+169.0%

Ashgabat vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 48.9% less for housing

	Ashgabat	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$94.97 TMT332.38	$11.17 LAK241,024	-88.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,125.36 TMT3,938.75	$859.15 LAK18,534,058	-23.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$747.86 TMT2,617.52	$775.98 LAK16,739,770	+3.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$435.73 TMT1,525.05	$54.31 LAK1,171,564	-87.5%
Average			-48.9%

Ashgabat vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.6 times more for childcare

	Ashgabat	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$22.79 TMT79.77	$332.66 LAK7,176,302	+1359.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$9,252.41 LAK199,597,550
Average			+1359.5%

Ashgabat vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 79.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Ashgabat	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.06 TMT17.70	$0.95 LAK20,464	-81.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.98 TMT24.43	$1.50 LAK32,263	-78.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$28.49 TMT99.72	$1.59 LAK34,217	-94.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$147.20 TMT515.19	$49.74 LAK1,072,982	-66.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.25 TMT49.86	$3.50 LAK75,588	-75.4%
Average			-79.2%

Ashgabat vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.1% less for clothing

	Ashgabat	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.47 TMT299.15	$85.86 LAK1,852,151	+0.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$121.08 TMT423.79	$62.88 LAK1,356,449	-48.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$163.82 TMT573.36	$57.29 LAK1,235,836	-65.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$170.94 TMT598.29	$41.48 LAK894,770	-75.7%
Average			-47.1%

Ashgabat vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Ashgabat vs.

Kiev

Ashgabat vs.

Reykjavik

Ashgabat vs.

Paris

Ashgabat vs.

Beijing

Ashgabat vs.

Dublin

Ashgabat vs.

Quito

Ashgabat vs.

Vienna

Ashgabat vs.

Bangkok

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Turkmenistan vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Turkmenistan and Laos.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Ashgabat

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Vientiane or Ashgabat. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.