Cost of living comparison

Colombo, Sri Lanka

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 3.4 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 30.5% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 5.1% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 3.2 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 13.7 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.5% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 91.2% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.5% less for restaurants

	Colombo	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.40 LKR1,008.96	$1.98 LAK42,952	-41.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.48 LKR2,219.72	$2.97 LAK64,428	-60.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 LKR219.45	$0.53 LAK11,455	-28.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 LKR116.03	$0.42 LAK9,164	+8.3%
Average			-30.5%

Colombo vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.1% more for groceries

	Colombo	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.57 LKR169.14	$0.91 LAK19,758	+60.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.94 LKR2,059.43	$13.72 LAK297,182	+97.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 LKR1,941.75	$6.42 LAK139,077	-1.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.22 LKR658.42	$1.75 LAK37,924	-21.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 LKR706.93	$2.95 LAK63,924	+23.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.28 LKR972.83	$0.88 LAK19,105	-73.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR151.50	$0.49 LAK10,665	-3.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.65 LKR785.47	$0.92 LAK20,004	-65.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 LKR157.23	$0.60 LAK12,908	+12.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR150.96	$0.73 LAK15,727	+42.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR162.02	$0.46 LAK9,923	-16.0%
Average			+5.1%

Colombo vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.2 times more for transportation

	Colombo	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84 LKR1,435.82	$5.00 LAK108,406	+3.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.80 LKR2,017.93	$49.23 LAK1,066,583	+624.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,303.89 LKR10,483,125.99	$28,330.27 LAK613,738,867	-19.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.13 LKR928.25	$11.18 LAK242,248	+257.7%
Average			+216.5%

Colombo vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Colombo	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.40 LKR4,869.45	$11.17 LAK242,043	-31.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$297.60 LKR88,368.35	$859.15 LAK18,612,425	+188.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$180.09 LKR53,474.94	$775.98 LAK16,810,550	+330.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.85 LKR13,019.76	$54.31 LAK1,176,518	+23.9%
Average			+127.9%

Colombo vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 13.7 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.60 LKR8,492.11	$332.66 LAK7,206,645	+1063.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$586.98 LKR174,298.37	$9,252.41 LAK200,441,503	+1476.3%
Average			+1269.8%

Colombo vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.04 LKR605.38	$0.95 LAK20,550	-53.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 LKR769.25	$1.50 LAK32,400	-42.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.34 LKR2,774.65	$1.59 LAK34,361	-83.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.89 LKR4,123.17	$49.74 LAK1,077,519	+258.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.40 LKR1,008.96	$3.50 LAK75,908	+3.1%
Average			+16.5%

Colombo vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 91.2% more for clothing

	Colombo	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.69 LKR8,816.32	$85.86 LAK1,859,982	+189.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.31 LKR6,625.52	$62.88 LAK1,362,184	+181.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.77 LKR20,420.53	$57.29 LAK1,241,062	-16.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.51 LKR11,137.40	$41.48 LAK898,554	+10.6%
Average			+91.2%

Colombo vs. Vientiane - 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: April 2025

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