Cost of living comparison

compared to

Lusaka vs. Kathmandu Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 2.0 times more expensive than Kathmandu.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 74.9% more in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 51.2% more in Lusaka
Housing: pay 4.4 times more in Lusaka
Childcare: pay 90.6% more in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.8% more in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 31.4% more in Lusaka

The cost of housing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Lusaka are more expensive than in Kathmandu. Notably, housing, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Lusaka.

Lusaka vs. Kathmandu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lusaka instead of Kathmandu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Kathmandu	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.47 NPR202.80	$7.21 ZMW200.08	+389.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.36 NPR1,012.99	$3.82 ZMW106.03	-48.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 NPR62.79	$0.71 ZMW19.80	+56.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.16 NPR22.26	$0.33 ZMW9.18	+104.6%
Average			+125.7%

Kathmandu vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 74.9% more for groceries

	Kathmandu	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.57 NPR77.91	$0.74 ZMW20.52	+30.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.70 NPR646.49	$3.64 ZMW100.88	-22.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.17 NPR436.81	$4.85 ZMW134.63	+53.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 NPR223.66	$1.92 ZMW53.40	+18.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 NPR203.52	$1.80 ZMW49.85	+21.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 NPR149.71	$1.20 ZMW33.32	+10.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 NPR64.79	$0.60 ZMW16.75	+28.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.52 NPR71.91	$1.27 ZMW35.10	+142.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 NPR45.09	$0.56 ZMW15.63	+72.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 NPR29.93	$0.96 ZMW26.52	+339.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 NPR40.32	$0.67 ZMW18.69	+130.1%
Average			+74.9%

Kathmandu vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 51.2% more for transportation

	Kathmandu	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.85 NPR668.17	$4.77 ZMW132.22	-1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.94 NPR1,368.91	$37.04 ZMW1,027.60	+272.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,138.99 NPR4,563,018.54	$8,004.53 ZMW222,096.11	-75.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.05 NPR1,521.01	$12.13 ZMW336.55	+9.8%
Average			+51.2%

Kathmandu vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.4 times more for housing

	Kathmandu	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.42 NPR1,435.21	$125.92 ZMW3,493.79	+1108.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$191.60 NPR26,382.70	$214.42 ZMW5,949.44	+11.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$102.03 NPR14,048.18	$114.96 ZMW3,189.68	+12.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$26.40 NPR3,634.76	$83.50 ZMW2,316.87	+216.3%
Average			+337.2%

Kathmandu vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay 90.6% more for childcare

	Kathmandu	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$91.89 NPR12,652.01	$176.79 ZMW4,905.25	+92.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,479.59 NPR479,116.95	$6,570.42 ZMW182,305.02	+88.8%
Average			+90.6%

Kathmandu vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Kathmandu	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.58 NPR354.90	$0.97 ZMW26.83	-62.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 NPR228.54	$2.07 ZMW57.53	+24.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 NPR405.60	$2.49 ZMW69.06	-15.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.71 NPR3,126.51	$41.21 ZMW1,143.48	+81.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.31 NPR456.30	$3.50 ZMW97.10	+5.6%
Average			+6.8%

Kathmandu vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.4% more for clothing

	Kathmandu	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.02 NPR3,307.21	$18.43 ZMW511.50	-23.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.19 NPR4,294.61	$18.78 ZMW521.19	-39.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$53.29 NPR7,338.19	$90.18 ZMW2,502.06	+69.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.76 NPR5,199.08	$82.76 ZMW2,296.32	+119.2%
Average			+31.4%

Kathmandu vs. Lusaka - 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: January 2025

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