Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea vs. Australia Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 11.8% cheaper than Australia overall.

Restaurants: pay 44.4% less in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 2.1% more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 18.6% less in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 68.0% less in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 46.6% less in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 26.1% less in Papua New Guinea

The cost of housing and groceries in Papua New Guinea are more expensive than in Australia. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, and transportation are lower in Papua New Guinea. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea vs. Australia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Australia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 44.4% less for restaurants

	Australia	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.76 A$26.59	$12.38 PGK51.03	-26.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.73 A$15.45	$7.43 PGK30.62	-23.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.56 A$4.07	$0.80 PGK3.28	-69.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.16 A$3.43	$0.89 PGK3.67	-58.8%
Average			-44.4%

Australia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1% more for groceries

	Australia	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.37 A$3.76	$1.49 PGK6.12	-37.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 A$6.93	$2.20 PGK9.06	-49.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.80 A$9.20	$7.01 PGK28.91	+21.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.07 A$6.46	$3.68 PGK15.19	-9.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.94 A$6.25	$3.28 PGK13.50	-16.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.30	$1.56 PGK6.41	+7.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.26 A$1.99	$1.19 PGK4.92	-4.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.35 A$2.14	$1.74 PGK7.18	+29.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.01 A$3.20	$2.02 PGK8.33	+0.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.12 A$1.77	$1.57 PGK6.48	+41.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 A$1.53	$1.37 PGK5.63	+42.2%
Average			+2.1%

Australia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.6% less for transportation

	Australia	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.65 A$7.38	$4.29 PGK17.68	-7.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$83.03 A$131.77	$16.69 PGK68.78	-79.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,742.09 A$44,028.09	$25,877.21 PGK106,653.16	-6.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.38 A$29.17	$22.04 PGK90.83	+19.9%
Average			-18.6%

Australia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Australia	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.59 A$88.23	$309.54 PGK1,275.76	+456.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,182.30 A$1,876.38	$2,346.03 PGK9,669.21	+98.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$957.92 A$1,520.27	$609.17 PGK2,510.69	-36.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.16 A$219.27	$78.11 PGK321.94	-43.5%
Average			+118.8%

Australia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 68.0% less for childcare

	Australia	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,485.91 A$2,358.22	$494.23 PGK2,036.96	-66.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,667.78 A$23,278.51	$4,498.59 PGK18,540.98	-69.3%
Average			-68.0%

Australia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 46.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Australia	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.64 A$10.54	$2.48 PGK10.21	-62.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 A$5.63	$1.83 PGK7.55	-48.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$28.07 A$44.56	$7.48 PGK30.82	-73.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$52.89 A$83.94	$45.19 PGK186.26	-14.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.13 A$20.84	$8.67 PGK35.72	-34.0%
Average			-46.6%

Australia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.1% less for clothing

	Australia	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.78 A$113.91	$39.25 PGK161.77	-45.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.24 A$79.73	$44.57 PGK183.71	-11.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$100.30 A$159.18	$64.38 PGK265.36	-35.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$111.73 A$177.32	$98.43 PGK405.69	-11.9%
Average			-26.1%

Australia vs. Papua New Guinea - 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: April 2025

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