Cost of living comparison

Kabul, Afghanistan

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Kabul Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 4.0 times more expensive than Kabul.

Restaurants: pay 27.4% more in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 3.1 times more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 3.0 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 4.4 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 10.3 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 87.4% more in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 4.0 times more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Kabul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.4% more for restaurants

	Kabul	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.63 AFN190	$1.98 LAK42,875	-24.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.31 AFN527	$2.97 LAK64,312	-59.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 AFN27	$0.53 LAK11,434	+40.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.17 AFN12	$0.42 LAK9,148	+153.1%
Average			+27.4%

Kabul vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.1 times more for groceries

	Kabul	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.25 AFN18	$0.91 LAK19,722	+266.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.96 AFN141	$13.72 LAK296,651	+599.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.05 AFN219	$6.42 LAK138,829	+110.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.48 AFN107	$1.75 LAK37,857	+18.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.54 AFN111	$2.95 LAK63,810	+91.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.25 AFN18	$0.88 LAK19,071	+254.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.36 AFN26	$0.49 LAK10,646	+34.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.37 AFN27	$0.92 LAK19,968	+148.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 AFN16	$0.60 LAK12,885	+162.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.15 AFN11	$0.73 LAK15,698	+386.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.15 AFN11	$0.46 LAK9,906	+202.4%
Average			+206.9%

Kabul vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.0 times more for transportation

	Kabul	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.96 AFN285	$5.00 LAK108,212	+26.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.93 AFN643	$49.23 LAK1,064,677	+451.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,079.28 AFN509,708	$28,330.27 LAK612,642,077	+300.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.07 AFN653	$11.18 LAK241,815	+23.3%
Average			+200.2%

Kabul vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.4 times more for housing

	Kabul	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$130.18 AFN9,373	$11.17 LAK241,611	-91.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$103.61 AFN7,460	$859.15 LAK18,579,164	+729.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$89.85 AFN6,469	$775.98 LAK16,780,509	+763.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.84 AFN5,100	$54.31 LAK1,174,415	-23.3%
Average			+344.6%

Kabul vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 10.3 times more for childcare

	Kabul	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$23.40 AFN1,685	$332.66 LAK7,193,766	+1321.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,462.66 AFN105,312	$9,252.41 LAK200,083,301	+532.6%
Average			+927.0%

Kabul vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 87.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Kabul	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.93 AFN211	$0.95 LAK20,514	-67.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.27 AFN91	$1.50 LAK32,342	+18.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.63 AFN190	$1.59 LAK34,300	-39.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$8.78 AFN632	$49.74 LAK1,075,594	+466.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.19 AFN158	$3.50 LAK75,772	+59.7%
Average			+87.4%

Kabul vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.0 times more for clothing

	Kabul	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.97 AFN790	$85.86 LAK1,856,658	+682.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.03 AFN1,154	$62.88 LAK1,359,750	+292.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$23.77 AFN1,711	$57.29 LAK1,238,844	+141.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$22.38 AFN1,611	$41.48 LAK896,948	+85.3%
Average			+300.3%

Kabul 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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See the cost of living in Afghanistan vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Afghanistan and Laos.

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