Cost of living comparison

Colombo, Sri Lanka

compared to

Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 4.3 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 3.2 times more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 8.2% more in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 59.9% more in Bucharest
Housing: pay 94.1% more in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 18.3 times more in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 91.5% more in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Bucharest

The cost of childcare, restaurants, clothing, housing, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Bucharest are more expensive than in Colombo. Notably, childcare, restaurants, and clothing are significantly more expensive in Bucharest.

Bucharest vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.2 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.40 LKR1,017.60	$11.85 RON52.69	+248.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.48 LKR2,238.72	$7.54 RON33.53	+0.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 LKR221.33	$2.00 RON8.88	+170.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 LKR117.02	$2.20 RON9.80	+464.0%
Average			+221.0%

Colombo vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.2% more for groceries

	Colombo	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$0.57 LKR170.58	$1.17 RON5.22	+106.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.94 LKR2,077.06	$4.52 RON20.11	-34.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 LKR1,958.37	$6.34 RON28.20	-3.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.22 LKR664.05	$3.28 RON14.57	+47.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 LKR712.98	$3.09 RON13.73	+29.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.28 LKR981.16	$0.59 RON2.60	-82.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR152.80	$0.77 RON3.42	+50.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.65 LKR792.20	$0.75 RON3.34	-71.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 LKR158.58	$0.88 RON3.92	+66.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR152.25	$0.51 RON2.25	-0.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR163.41	$0.44 RON1.96	-19.2%
Average			+8.2%

Colombo vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 59.9% more for transportation

	Colombo	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84 LKR1,448.11	$6.09 RON27.09	+26.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.80 LKR2,035.20	$17.24 RON76.64	+153.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,303.89 LKR10,572,858.00	$26,003.12 RON115,615.06	-26.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.13 LKR936.19	$5.82 RON25.87	+86.1%
Average			+59.9%

Colombo vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 94.1% more for housing

	Colombo	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.40 LKR4,911.13	$9.35 RON41.59	-43.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$297.60 LKR89,124.75	$601.94 RON2,676.33	+102.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$180.09 LKR53,932.67	$397.23 RON1,766.16	+120.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.85 LKR13,131.20	$130.07 RON578.30	+196.6%
Average			+94.1%

Colombo vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.3 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.60 LKR8,564.80	$527.95 RON2,347.37	+1746.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$586.98 LKR175,790.30	$10,631.65 RON47,270.44	+1711.2%
Average			+1728.7%

Colombo vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 91.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.04 LKR610.56	$3.23 RON14.37	+58.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 LKR775.83	$3.17 RON14.09	+22.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.34 LKR2,798.40	$5.98 RON26.59	-36.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.89 LKR4,158.46	$49.84 RON221.61	+258.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.40 LKR1,017.60	$8.62 RON38.32	+153.7%
Average			+91.5%

Colombo vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.69 LKR8,891.78	$78.42 RON348.65	+164.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.31 LKR6,682.24	$39.68 RON176.41	+77.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.77 LKR20,595.33	$85.94 RON382.12	+25.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.51 LKR11,232.73	$105.80 RON470.42	+182.1%
Average			+112.2%

Colombo vs. Bucharest - 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: May 2025

More cost comparisons

Colombo vs.

Algiers

Colombo vs.

Vienna

Colombo vs.

Phnom Penh

Colombo vs.

Berlin

Colombo vs.

Washington

Colombo vs.

Athens

Colombo vs.

Cairo

Colombo vs.

Manila

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Colombo

Add prices for Bucharest

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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