Cost of living comparison

Budapest, Hungary

compared to

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 19.5% cheaper than Budapest.

Restaurants: pay 49.7% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 13.5% more in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 25.0% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 12.7% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 28.1% less in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 15.2% less in Kuala Lumpur

Expenses including restaurants, childcare, transportation, clothing, housing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Budapest, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 49.7% less for restaurants

	Budapest	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.52 HUF3,726.80	$4.54 MYR19.20	-56.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 HUF2,795.10	$4.54 MYR19.20	-42.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.53 HUF540.36	$0.84 MYR3.56	-44.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 HUF418.96	$0.53 MYR2.26	-54.8%
Average			-49.7%

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.5% more for groceries

	Budapest	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 HUF524.34	$0.95 MYR4.00	-36.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.42 HUF1,564.10	$7.58 MYR32.03	+71.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.98 HUF1,409.46	$7.22 MYR30.51	+81.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.43 HUF861.51	$2.36 MYR9.96	-3.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.44 HUF864.34	$1.94 MYR8.18	-20.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.71 HUF250.48	$1.24 MYR5.24	+75.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 HUF282.42	$0.69 MYR2.92	-13.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.81 HUF285.91	$1.25 MYR5.29	+55.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 HUF415.34	$0.63 MYR2.65	-46.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 HUF180.31	$0.47 MYR1.97	-8.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 HUF193.81	$0.51 MYR2.17	-6.3%
Average			+13.5%

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.0% less for transportation

	Budapest	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.17 HUF2,186.16	$1.77 MYR7.50	-71.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.54 HUF8,338.72	$11.36 MYR48.01	-51.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,962.74 HUF9,549,931.69	$37,478.71 MYR158,441.23	+39.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.15 HUF4,304.46	$10.22 MYR43.21	-15.9%
Average			-25.0%

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.7% less for housing

	Budapest	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.98 HUF6,369.89	$25.27 MYR106.81	+40.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$642.83 HUF227,684.04	$536.30 MYR2,267.19	-16.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$478.04 HUF169,317.13	$371.69 MYR1,571.32	-22.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$105.42 HUF37,338.63	$50.02 MYR211.47	-52.5%
Average			-12.7%

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 28.1% less for childcare

	Budapest	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$423.92 HUF150,147.14	$250.80 MYR1,060.28	-40.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,554.11 HUF3,738,160.74	$8,920.55 MYR37,711.63	-15.5%
Average			-28.1%

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay (unknown) more for entertainment and sports

	Budapest	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 HUF931.70	$4.09 MYR17.28	+55.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 HUF840.66	$2.92 MYR12.34	+23.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.98 HUF2,119.62	$4.09 MYR17.28	-31.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.31 HUF17,466.00	$44.75 MYR189.17	-9.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.63 HUF2,701.93	$4.77 MYR20.17	-37.5%

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.2% less for clothing

	Budapest	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$74.81 HUF26,496.97	$57.74 MYR244.09	-22.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.73 HUF13,008.78	$35.00 MYR147.97	-4.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.74 HUF30,720.69	$76.75 MYR324.47	-11.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.52 HUF33,123.56	$73.25 MYR309.68	-21.7%
Average			-15.2%

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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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