Cost of living comparison

compared to

Singapore vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Singapore is 9.4 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Singapore
Groceries: pay 82.5% more in Singapore
Transportation: pay 5.5 times more in Singapore
Housing: pay 6.3 times more in Singapore
Childcare: pay 44.1 times more in Singapore
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.5 times more in Singapore
Clothing: pay 2.2 times more in Singapore

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

Singapore vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	Singapore
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.40 LKR996.48	$10.16 SGD13.92	+198.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.48 LKR2,192.26	$7.52 SGD10.31	+0.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 LKR216.74	$1.52 SGD2.08	+105.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 LKR114.60	$1.12 SGD1.53	+186.5%
Average			+122.9%

Colombo vs. Singapore - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 82.5% more for groceries

	Colombo	Singapore
Bread 1 loaf	$0.57 LKR167.05	$2.11 SGD2.89	+269.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.94 LKR2,033.96	$8.41 SGD11.53	+21.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 LKR1,917.74	$10.38 SGD14.23	+58.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.22 LKR650.27	$3.30 SGD4.52	+48.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 LKR698.19	$4.50 SGD6.16	+88.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.28 LKR960.80	$1.80 SGD2.47	-45.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR149.63	$1.36 SGD1.86	+166.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.65 LKR775.76	$1.80 SGD2.47	-32.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 LKR155.29	$1.27 SGD1.73	+139.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR149.09	$1.02 SGD1.40	+101.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR160.02	$1.04 SGD1.42	+90.1%
Average			+82.5%

Colombo vs. Singapore - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.5 times more for transportation

	Colombo	Singapore
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84 LKR1,418.06	$8.18 SGD11.21	+69.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.80 LKR1,992.97	$90.29 SGD123.71	+1228.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,303.89 LKR10,353,460.86	$135,434.68 SGD185,559.05	+283.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.13 LKR916.76	$9.48 SGD12.99	+203.3%
Average			+446.2%

Colombo vs. Singapore - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.3 times more for housing

	Colombo	Singapore
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.40 LKR4,809.22	$36.16 SGD49.54	+120.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$297.60 LKR87,275.32	$2,745.11 SGD3,761.08	+822.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$180.09 LKR52,813.51	$1,988.78 SGD2,724.82	+1004.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.85 LKR12,858.72	$121.43 SGD166.38	+177.0%
Average			+531.0%

Colombo vs. Singapore - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 44.1 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Singapore
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.60 LKR8,387.07	$1,189.74 SGD1,630.07	+4060.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$586.98 LKR172,142.48	$27,370.99 SGD37,501.00	+4563.0%
Average			+4311.6%

Colombo vs. Singapore - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Singapore
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.04 LKR597.89	$6.73 SGD9.23	+230.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 LKR759.73	$4.71 SGD6.45	+81.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.34 LKR2,740.33	$12.64 SGD17.32	+35.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.89 LKR4,072.17	$105.20 SGD144.13	+657.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.40 LKR996.48	$11.29 SGD15.46	+232.2%
Average			+247.4%

Colombo vs. Singapore - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Singapore
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.69 LKR8,707.27	$66.32 SGD90.86	+123.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.31 LKR6,543.57	$44.36 SGD60.78	+98.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.77 LKR20,167.95	$96.71 SGD132.50	+40.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.51 LKR10,999.64	$111.62 SGD152.93	+197.6%
Average			+115.1%

Colombo vs. Singapore - 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: January 2025

More cost comparisons

Colombo vs.

Dublin

Colombo vs.

Madrid

Colombo vs.

Ankara

Colombo vs.

Bangkok

Colombo vs.

Hong Kong

Colombo vs.

Washington

Colombo vs.

Prague

Colombo vs.

Cairo

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

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 Singapore

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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