Cost of living comparison

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

compared to

Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 53.2% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 2.2% more in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 55.4% more in Bucharest
Housing: pay 29.0% more in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 64.8% more in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.2% more in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 26.4% more in Bucharest

The cost of restaurants, childcare, transportation, housing, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Bucharest are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Bucharest.

Bucharest vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bucharest instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.54 MYR19.32	$11.85 RON51.73	+160.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.54 MYR19.32	$7.54 RON32.92	+66.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 MYR3.59	$2.00 RON8.72	+136.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 MYR2.27	$2.20 RON9.62	+312.6%
Average			+169.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$0.95 MYR4.03	$1.17 RON5.13	+24.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.58 MYR32.22	$4.52 RON19.75	-40.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.22 MYR30.69	$6.34 RON27.68	-12.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.36 MYR10.02	$3.28 RON14.30	+39.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.94 MYR8.23	$3.09 RON13.48	+59.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.24 MYR5.27	$0.59 RON2.56	-52.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 MYR2.94	$0.77 RON3.36	+11.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.25 MYR5.32	$0.75 RON3.28	-40.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.63 MYR2.66	$0.88 RON3.85	+40.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.47 MYR1.98	$0.51 RON2.21	+8.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 MYR2.18	$0.44 RON1.92	-14.0%
Average			+2.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.4% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.77 MYR7.54	$6.09 RON26.60	+243.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.36 MYR48.30	$17.24 RON75.24	+51.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,478.71 MYR159,378.19	$26,003.12 RON113,503.60	-30.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.22 MYR43.47	$5.82 RON25.39	-43.1%
Average			+55.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.0% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.27 MYR107.44	$9.35 RON40.83	-63.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$536.30 MYR2,280.60	$601.94 RON2,627.45	+12.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.69 MYR1,580.61	$397.23 RON1,733.91	+6.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$50.02 MYR212.73	$130.07 RON567.74	+160.0%
Average			+29.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

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pay 64.8% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$250.80 MYR1,066.55	$527.95 RON2,304.50	+110.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,920.55 MYR37,934.64	$10,631.65 RON46,407.15	+19.2%
Average			+64.8%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.09 MYR17.39	$3.23 RON14.11	-20.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.92 MYR12.41	$3.17 RON13.83	+8.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.09 MYR17.39	$5.98 RON26.10	+46.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.75 MYR190.29	$49.84 RON217.56	+11.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.77 MYR20.28	$8.62 RON37.62	+80.7%
Average			+25.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.4% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$57.74 MYR245.53	$78.42 RON342.28	+35.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.00 MYR148.84	$39.68 RON173.19	+13.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.75 MYR326.39	$85.94 RON375.14	+12.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.25 MYR311.51	$105.80 RON461.82	+44.4%
Average			+26.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Bucharest - 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: June 2025

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