Cost of living comparison

Canberra, Australia

compared to

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Canberra Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 53.2% cheaper than Canberra.

Restaurants: pay 69.3% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 36.2% less in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 42.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 69.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 62.5% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.5% less in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 43.3% less in Kuala Lumpur

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

Kuala Lumpur vs. Canberra Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 69.3% less for restaurants

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.77 A$30.44	$4.54 MYR19.20	-77.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.89 A$15.22	$4.54 MYR19.20	-54.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.76 A$4.26	$0.84 MYR3.56	-69.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.32 A$3.57	$0.53 MYR2.26	-76.9%
Average			-69.3%

Canberra vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 36.2% less for groceries

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$2.59 A$3.98	$0.95 MYR4.00	-63.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.39 A$8.30	$7.58 MYR32.03	+40.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.59 A$10.15	$7.22 MYR30.51	+9.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.63 A$7.13	$2.36 MYR9.96	-49.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.12 A$6.34	$1.94 MYR8.18	-53.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.62 A$2.49	$1.24 MYR5.24	-23.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.34 A$2.07	$0.69 MYR2.92	-48.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.57 A$2.41	$1.25 MYR5.29	-20.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.46 A$3.80	$0.63 MYR2.65	-74.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.25 A$1.92	$0.47 MYR1.97	-62.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 A$1.71	$0.51 MYR2.17	-53.9%
Average			-36.2%

Canberra vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 42.4% less for transportation

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.07 A$7.81	$1.77 MYR7.50	-65.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$118.63 A$182.67	$11.36 MYR48.01	-90.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,276.08 A$45,081.74	$37,478.71 MYR158,441.23	+28.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.66 A$27.20	$10.22 MYR43.21	-42.1%
Average			-42.4%

Canberra vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.4% less for housing

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.39 A$100.69	$25.27 MYR106.81	-61.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,783.31 A$2,746.08	$536.30 MYR2,267.19	-69.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,413.05 A$2,175.93	$371.69 MYR1,571.32	-73.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$183.02 A$281.83	$50.02 MYR211.47	-72.7%
Average			-69.4%

Canberra vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 62.5% less for childcare

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,847.17 A$2,844.42	$250.80 MYR1,060.28	-86.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,503.36 A$22,333.48	$8,920.55 MYR37,711.63	-38.5%
Average			-62.5%

Canberra vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.25 A$11.16	$4.09 MYR17.28	-43.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.68 A$5.67	$2.92 MYR12.34	-20.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$26.36 A$40.59	$4.09 MYR17.28	-84.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 A$101.15	$44.75 MYR189.17	-31.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.33 A$22.07	$4.77 MYR20.17	-66.7%
Average			-49.5%

Canberra vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 43.3% less for clothing

	Canberra	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.77 A$133.62	$57.74 MYR244.09	-33.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$72.18 A$111.15	$35.00 MYR147.97	-51.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.51 A$184.04	$76.75 MYR324.47	-35.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$154.17 A$237.41	$73.25 MYR309.68	-52.5%
Average			-43.3%

Canberra vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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

Canberra vs.

Wellington

Canberra vs.

Washington

Canberra vs.

Manila

Canberra vs.

Warsaw

Canberra vs.

Ottawa

Canberra vs.

London

Canberra vs.

Madrid

Canberra vs.

Hong Kong

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Canberra

Add prices for Kuala Lumpur

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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