Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 15.6% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 22.9% less in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 15.5% more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 18.7% less in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 2.9 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 31.9% less in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9% less in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 20.1% less in Papua New Guinea

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

Papua New Guinea vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 22.9% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.75 CRC4,861.38	$12.38 PGK50.85	+27.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.08 CRC4,529.24	$7.43 PGK30.51	-18.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.01 CRC1,002.75	$0.80 PGK3.27	-60.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 CRC743.89	$0.89 PGK3.66	-40.2%
Average			-22.9%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.5% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.53 CRC1,262.89	$1.49 PGK6.10	-41.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 CRC1,876.61	$2.20 PGK9.03	-41.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 CRC3,479.13	$7.01 PGK28.81	+0.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.21 CRC1,602.04	$3.68 PGK15.13	+14.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.97 CRC1,980.43	$3.28 PGK13.45	-17.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.79 CRC892.43	$1.56 PGK6.39	-13.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC307.67	$1.19 PGK4.90	+93.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC606.66	$1.74 PGK7.16	+43.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 CRC609.28	$2.02 PGK8.30	+65.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 CRC545.77	$1.57 PGK6.46	+43.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 CRC555.45	$1.37 PGK5.61	+22.7%
Average			+15.5%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.7% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.63 CRC2,806.40	$4.29 PGK17.61	-23.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.00 CRC24,437.54	$16.69 PGK68.53	-65.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,063.37 CRC17,487,364.97	$25,877.21 PGK106,268.42	-26.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.62 CRC7,791.37	$22.04 PGK90.51	+41.1%
Average			-18.7%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.9 times more for housing

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.50 CRC24,188.91	$309.54 PGK1,271.15	+538.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$778.04 CRC388,035.38	$2,346.03 PGK9,634.33	+201.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$547.50 CRC273,059.59	$609.17 PGK2,501.63	+11.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.26 CRC34,042.58	$78.11 PGK320.78	+14.4%
Average			+191.4%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 31.9% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$519.07 CRC258,877.67	$494.23 PGK2,029.61	-4.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,987.74 CRC5,479,982.83	$4,498.59 PGK18,474.10	-59.1%
Average			-31.9%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.73 CRC1,360.13	$2.48 PGK10.17	-9.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.65 CRC1,822.50	$1.83 PGK7.53	-49.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.58 CRC2,285.36	$7.48 PGK30.71	+63.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.46 CRC29,655.13	$45.19 PGK185.59	-24.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.63 CRC4,302.05	$8.67 PGK35.59	+0.5%
Average			-3.9%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.1% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.32 CRC32,579.25	$39.25 PGK161.18	-39.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.54 CRC22,213.88	$44.57 PGK183.05	+0.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.39 CRC55,053.23	$64.38 PGK264.40	-41.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.22 CRC48,485.54	$98.43 PGK404.23	+1.3%
Average			-20.1%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - 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: March 2025

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