Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 87.4% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.3 times more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 53.4% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 21.4% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 49.2% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 33.3% more in Costa Rica

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, childcare, and clothing in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Laos. Notably, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and housing are significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Laos, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3 times more for restaurants

	Laos	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.90 LAK41,112	$9.75 CRC4,870.79	+413.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.20 LAK91,113	$9.08 CRC4,538.01	+116.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 LAK14,961	$2.01 CRC1,004.69	+191.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 LAK10,522	$1.49 CRC745.33	+207.2%
Average			+232.1%

Laos vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.4% more for groceries

	Laos	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 LAK21,721	$2.53 CRC1,265.34	+152.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.03 LAK282,392	$3.76 CRC1,880.24	-71.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.40 LAK138,699	$6.98 CRC3,485.87	+9.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 LAK44,745	$3.21 CRC1,605.14	+55.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.07 LAK44,859	$3.97 CRC1,984.26	+91.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 LAK16,146	$1.79 CRC894.15	+140.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 LAK16,075	$0.62 CRC308.26	-16.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.96 LAK20,745	$1.22 CRC607.84	+27.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.29 LAK27,937	$1.22 CRC610.46	-5.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 LAK15,062	$1.09 CRC546.82	+57.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 LAK9,796	$1.11 CRC556.53	+146.4%
Average			+53.4%

Laos vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.4% more for transportation

	Laos	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.61 LAK99,800	$5.63 CRC2,811.83	+22.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.85 LAK1,166,949	$49.00 CRC24,484.83	-9.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,167.89 LAK610,380,007	$35,063.37 CRC17,521,201.52	+24.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.57 LAK229,122	$15.62 CRC7,806.44	+47.7%
Average			+21.4%

Laos vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Laos	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.98 LAK194,666	$48.50 CRC24,235.71	+439.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$993.83 LAK21,535,611	$778.04 CRC388,786.19	-21.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$809.30 LAK17,537,087	$547.50 CRC273,587.94	-32.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.85 LAK1,275,144	$68.26 CRC34,108.45	+16.0%
Average			+100.5%

Laos vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 49.2% more for childcare

	Laos	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$291.32 LAK6,312,816	$519.07 CRC259,378.58	+78.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,140.14 LAK198,061,034	$10,987.74 CRC5,490,586.13	+20.2%
Average			+49.2%

Laos vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.11 LAK23,965	$2.73 CRC1,362.76	+146.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.62 LAK35,083	$3.65 CRC1,826.03	+125.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK38,667	$4.58 CRC2,289.78	+156.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 LAK1,436,934	$59.46 CRC29,712.51	-10.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.97 LAK64,401	$8.63 CRC4,310.38	+190.2%
Average			+121.8%

Laos vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 33.3% more for clothing

	Laos	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.60 LAK1,703,174	$65.32 CRC32,642.29	-16.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.45 LAK1,331,521	$44.54 CRC22,256.86	-27.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.22 LAK1,413,263	$110.39 CRC55,159.76	+69.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.67 LAK1,011,309	$97.22 CRC48,579.36	+108.3%
Average			+33.3%

Laos vs. Costa Rica - 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: March 2025

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