Cost of living comparison

Guatemala City, Guatemala

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 7.8% more expensive than Guatemala City.

Restaurants: pay 55.6% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 4.8% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 93.2% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 18.0% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 59.1% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.4% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 6.0% less in Vientiane

The cost of transportation, childcare, and housing in Vientiane are more expensive than in Guatemala City. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and groceries are lower in Vientiane. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Guatemala City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Guatemala City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 55.6% less for restaurants

	Guatemala City	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.15 GTQ39.61	$1.98 LAK42,864	-61.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.37 GTQ49.01	$2.97 LAK64,296	-53.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.16 GTQ8.91	$0.53 LAK11,431	-54.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 GTQ6.97	$0.42 LAK9,146	-53.3%
Average			-55.6%

Guatemala City vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.8% less for groceries

	Guatemala City	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$3.24 GTQ24.93	$0.91 LAK19,717	-71.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.39 GTQ26.06	$13.72 LAK296,574	+305.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 GTQ56.74	$6.42 LAK138,793	-12.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.57 GTQ19.77	$1.75 LAK37,847	-31.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.42 GTQ26.36	$2.95 LAK63,793	-13.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.67 GTQ12.82	$0.88 LAK19,066	-47.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 GTQ5.71	$0.49 LAK10,643	-33.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.55 GTQ11.91	$0.92 LAK19,963	-40.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 GTQ7.01	$0.60 LAK12,881	-34.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 GTQ6.44	$0.73 LAK15,694	-13.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 GTQ8.51	$0.46 LAK9,903	-58.6%
Average			-4.8%

Guatemala City vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 93.2% more for transportation

	Guatemala City	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.13 GTQ31.79	$5.00 LAK108,184	+21.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.42 GTQ103.32	$49.23 LAK1,064,402	+266.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,009.72 GTQ138,618.01	$28,330.27 LAK612,483,800	+57.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.75 GTQ67.33	$11.18 LAK241,752	+27.8%
Average			+93.2%

Guatemala City vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.0% more for housing

	Guatemala City	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$43.14 GTQ332.02	$11.17 LAK241,548	-74.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$647.65 GTQ4,984.83	$859.15 LAK18,574,364	+32.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$347.33 GTQ2,673.35	$775.98 LAK16,776,173	+123.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.31 GTQ464.17	$54.31 LAK1,174,112	-9.9%
Average			+18.0%

Guatemala City vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 59.1% more for childcare

	Guatemala City	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$217.77 GTQ1,676.15	$332.66 LAK7,191,908	+52.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,593.73 GTQ43,054.09	$9,252.41 LAK200,031,610	+65.4%
Average			+59.1%

Guatemala City vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Guatemala City	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.22 GTQ24.75	$0.95 LAK20,508	-70.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.31 GTQ25.44	$1.50 LAK32,333	-54.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.60 GTQ27.72	$1.59 LAK34,291	-56.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.94 GTQ430.58	$49.74 LAK1,075,316	-11.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.72 GTQ59.41	$3.50 LAK75,752	-54.6%
Average			-49.4%

Guatemala City vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.0% less for clothing

	Guatemala City	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.50 GTQ365.60	$85.86 LAK1,856,178	+80.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.74 GTQ429.06	$62.88 LAK1,359,399	+12.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$120.06 GTQ924.12	$57.29 LAK1,238,524	-52.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$118.99 GTQ915.87	$41.48 LAK896,716	-65.1%
Average			-6.0%

Guatemala City 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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