Cost of living comparison

Beirut, Lebanon

compared to

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Beirut Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 21.8% cheaper than Beirut.

Restaurants: pay 46.8% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 83.2% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 27.6% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 57.8% less in Colombo
Childcare: pay 87.8% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 39.9% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 55.7% less in Colombo

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

Colombo vs. Beirut Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Beirut, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.8% less for restaurants

	Beirut	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 LBP895,500	$3.40 LKR1,016.26	-66.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.64 LBP684,072	$7.48 LKR2,235.76	-2.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.59 LBP142,321	$0.74 LKR221.04	-53.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.13 LBP101,192	$0.39 LKR116.87	-65.4%
Average			-46.8%

Beirut vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 83.2% more for groceries

	Beirut	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LBP81,894	$0.57 LKR170.36	-37.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.48 LBP490,286	$6.94 LKR2,074.32	+26.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.19 LBP554,108	$6.54 LKR1,955.79	+5.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.72 LBP243,281	$2.22 LKR663.18	-18.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.84 LBP343,503	$2.38 LKR712.04	-37.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.69 LBP61,943	$3.28 LKR979.86	+373.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 LBP49,749	$0.51 LKR152.60	-8.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.41 LBP36,770	$2.65 LKR791.15	+544.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.47 LBP41,770	$0.53 LKR158.37	+13.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 LBP35,068	$0.51 LKR152.05	+29.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 LBP39,276	$0.55 LKR163.19	+24.4%
Average			+83.2%

Beirut vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.6% less for transportation

	Beirut	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.49 LBP312,591	$4.84 LKR1,446.20	+38.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$75.00 LBP6,716,250	$6.80 LKR2,032.51	-90.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,000.00 LBP2,686,500,000	$35,303.89 LKR10,558,901.99	+17.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 LBP1,141,762	$3.13 LKR934.96	-75.5%
Average			-27.6%

Beirut vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.8% less for housing

	Beirut	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.88 LBP2,854,406	$16.40 LKR4,904.65	-48.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$738.24 LBP66,108,971	$297.60 LKR89,007.11	-59.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$359.38 LBP32,182,031	$180.09 LKR53,861.48	-49.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$161.18 LBP14,433,938	$43.85 LKR13,113.87	-72.8%
Average			-57.8%

Beirut vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 87.8% less for childcare

	Beirut	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$283.33 LBP25,372,500	$28.60 LKR8,553.49	-89.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,111.11 LBP368,150,000	$586.98 LKR175,558.26	-85.7%
Average			-87.8%

Beirut vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 39.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Beirut	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00 LBP268,650	$2.04 LKR609.75	-32.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.80 LBP250,740	$2.59 LKR774.81	-7.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.00 LBP179,100	$9.34 LKR2,794.70	+367.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.33 LBP5,313,300	$13.89 LKR4,152.97	-76.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.00 LBP626,850	$3.40 LKR1,016.26	-51.5%
Average			+39.9%

Beirut vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 55.7% less for clothing

	Beirut	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.12 LBP6,996,094	$29.69 LKR8,880.05	-62.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.86 LBP5,181,107	$22.31 LKR6,673.42	-61.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$103.12 LBP9,234,844	$68.77 LKR20,568.14	-33.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.71 LBP9,914,464	$37.51 LKR11,217.91	-66.1%
Average			-55.7%

Beirut vs. Colombo - 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: May 2025

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See the cost of living in Lebanon vs. Sri Lanka. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Lebanon and Sri Lanka.

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