Cost of living comparison

Cook Islands

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 91.7% more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 25.1% less in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 4.8% less in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 3.3% less in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 5.7 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 3.1 times more in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.4% less in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 3.6% less in Papua New Guinea

The cost of housing and childcare in Papua New Guinea are more expensive than in Cook Islands. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, clothing, and transportation are lower in Papua New Guinea. Notably, housing and childcare are significantly more expensive in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 25.1% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 NZ$15.63	$12.38 PGK50.85	+38.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.21 NZ$14.33	$7.43 PGK30.51	-9.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 NZ$4.95	$0.80 PGK3.27	-71.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.09 NZ$3.65	$0.89 PGK3.66	-57.4%
Average			-25.1%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.8% less for groceries

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$3.22 NZ$5.62	$1.49 PGK6.10	-53.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 NZ$8.99	$2.20 PGK9.03	-57.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.63 NZ$13.32	$7.01 PGK28.81	-8.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.76 NZ$10.06	$3.68 PGK15.13	-36.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 NZ$6.15	$3.28 PGK13.45	-7.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 NZ$2.35	$1.56 PGK6.39	+15.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.89	$1.19 PGK4.90	+10.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.62 NZ$2.82	$1.74 PGK7.16	+7.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.84 NZ$4.96	$2.02 PGK8.30	-28.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.89	$1.57 PGK6.46	+45.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 NZ$1.49	$1.37 PGK5.61	+60.2%
Average			-4.8%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.3% less for transportation

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.86	$4.29 PGK17.61	-36.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$16.69 PGK68.53
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,944.29 NZ$20,845.19	$25,877.21 PGK106,268.42	+116.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$212.01 NZ$370.00	$22.04 PGK90.51	-89.6%
Average			-3.3%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.7 times more for housing

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$104.21 NZ$181.87	$309.54 PGK1,271.15	+197.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$155.28 NZ$270.99	$2,346.03 PGK9,634.33	+1410.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$155.28 NZ$270.99	$609.17 PGK2,501.63	+292.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.92 NZ$139.48	$78.11 PGK320.78	-2.3%
Average			+474.5%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.1 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$494.23 PGK2,029.61
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,433.32 NZ$2,501.42	$4,498.59 PGK18,474.10	+213.9%
Average			+213.9%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 9.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.23 NZ$9.12	$2.48 PGK10.17	-52.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.83 NZ$6.69	$1.83 PGK7.53	-52.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.93 NZ$26.06	$7.48 PGK30.71	-49.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.88 NZ$43.43	$45.19 PGK185.59	+81.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.87 NZ$11.99	$8.67 PGK35.59	+26.2%
Average			-9.4%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.6% less for clothing

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.89 NZ$116.73	$39.25 PGK161.18	-41.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$44.57 PGK183.05
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$64.38 PGK264.40
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.46 NZ$128.20	$98.43 PGK404.23	+34.0%
Average			-3.6%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - 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: March 2025

More cost comparisons

Cook Islands vs.

Iceland

Cook Islands vs.

United States

Cook Islands vs.

Thailand

Cook Islands vs.

Italy

Cook Islands vs.

France

Cook Islands vs.

Spain

Cook Islands vs.

Peru

Cook Islands vs.

Greece

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Avarua vs. Port Moresby

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 Cook Islands

Add prices for Papua New Guinea

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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