Cost of living comparison

Gaborone, Botswana

compared to

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Gaborone Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 14.3% cheaper than Gaborone.

Restaurants: pay 15.3% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 52.6% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 22.4% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 14.0% less in Colombo
Childcare: pay 84.2% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.6% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 25.4% less in Colombo

The cost of groceries and entertainment and sports in Colombo are more expensive than in Gaborone. Expenses including childcare, clothing, transportation, restaurants, and housing are lower in Colombo.

Colombo vs. Gaborone Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.3% less for restaurants

	Gaborone	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.50 BWP102.39	$3.40 LKR1,006.42	-54.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.00 BWP81.91	$7.48 LKR2,214.13	+24.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.83 BWP11.37	$0.74 LKR218.90	-11.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 BWP6.67	$0.39 LKR115.74	-19.9%
Average			-15.3%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.6% more for groceries

	Gaborone	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.81 BWP11.10	$0.57 LKR168.71	-29.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.37 BWP46.01	$6.94 LKR2,054.24	+105.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.06 BWP69.13	$6.54 LKR1,936.86	+29.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.29 BWP31.29	$2.22 LKR656.76	-3.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.27 BWP31.06	$2.38 LKR705.15	+4.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 BWP10.57	$3.28 LKR970.38	+323.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 BWP8.46	$0.51 LKR151.12	-17.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.88 BWP12.07	$2.65 LKR783.49	+199.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 BWP8.82	$0.53 LKR156.84	-18.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 BWP8.16	$0.51 LKR150.58	-14.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 BWP7.48	$0.55 LKR161.61	-0.4%
Average			+52.6%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.4% less for transportation

	Gaborone	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.27 BWP58.37	$4.84 LKR1,432.20	+13.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.18 BWP385.00	$6.80 LKR2,012.84	-75.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,486.26 BWP307,179.73	$35,303.89 LKR10,456,719.10	+57.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.49 BWP266.22	$3.13 LKR925.91	-84.0%
Average			-22.4%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.0% less for housing

	Gaborone	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$90.60 BWP1,237.68	$16.40 LKR4,857.18	-81.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$254.84 BWP3,481.37	$297.60 LKR88,145.75	+16.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$149.91 BWP2,047.86	$180.09 LKR53,340.24	+20.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.21 BWP672.27	$43.85 LKR12,986.96	-10.9%
Average			-14.0%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 84.2% less for childcare

	Gaborone	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$180.24 BWP2,462.24	$28.60 LKR8,470.71	-84.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,740.68 BWP51,100.63	$586.98 LKR173,859.31	-84.3%
Average			-84.2%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Gaborone	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 BWP30.72	$2.04 LKR603.85	-9.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 BWP32.37	$2.59 LKR767.31	+9.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.75 BWP51.20	$9.34 LKR2,767.66	+149.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.19 BWP439.72	$13.89 LKR4,112.78	-56.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.75 BWP92.15	$3.40 LKR1,006.42	-49.6%
Average			+8.6%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.4% less for clothing

	Gaborone	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.14 BWP602.98	$29.69 LKR8,794.11	-32.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.17 BWP302.79	$22.31 LKR6,608.83	+0.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.20 BWP1,041.00	$68.77 LKR20,369.10	-9.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.16 BWP1,272.60	$37.51 LKR11,109.34	-59.7%
Average			-25.4%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - 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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See the cost of living in Botswana vs. Sri Lanka. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Botswana and Sri Lanka.

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