Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Mongolia

Mongolia vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Mongolia is 11.5% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 53.0% more in Mongolia
Groceries: pay 17.9% more in Mongolia
Transportation: pay 35.1% less in Mongolia
Housing: pay 7.0% less in Mongolia
Childcare: pay 31.7% less in Mongolia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.6% more in Mongolia
Clothing: pay 51.8% more in Mongolia

The cost of restaurants, clothing, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Mongolia are more expensive than in Laos. Expenses including transportation, childcare, and housing are lower in Mongolia.

Mongolia vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mongolia instead of Laos, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 53.0% more for restaurants

	Laos	Mongolia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.90 LAK41,112	$5.08 MNT17,250.00	+167.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.20 LAK91,113	$4.86 MNT16,500.00	+15.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 LAK14,961	$0.84 MNT2,852.94	+21.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 LAK10,522	$0.52 MNT1,773.33	+7.5%
Average			+53.0%

Laos vs. Mongolia - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.9% more for groceries

	Laos	Mongolia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 LAK21,721	$0.92 MNT3,124.01	-8.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.03 LAK282,392	$6.82 MNT23,187.50	-47.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.40 LAK138,699	$5.44 MNT18,498.60	-14.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 LAK44,745	$2.21 MNT7,518.68	+7.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.07 LAK44,859	$2.04 MNT6,945.64	-1.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 LAK16,146	$1.69 MNT5,745.51	+126.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 LAK16,075	$1.30 MNT4,430.09	+75.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.96 LAK20,745	$1.91 MNT6,503.39	+99.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.29 LAK27,937	$1.47 MNT5,003.13	+14.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 LAK15,062	$0.31 MNT1,037.72	-56.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 LAK9,796	$0.46 MNT1,547.26	+0.7%
Average			+17.9%

Laos vs. Mongolia - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 35.1% less for transportation

	Laos	Mongolia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.61 LAK99,800	$4.00 MNT13,586.19	-13.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.85 LAK1,166,949	$8.09 MNT27,500.00	-85.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,167.89 LAK610,380,007	$30,311.95 MNT103,000,000.00	+7.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.57 LAK229,122	$5.30 MNT18,000.00	-49.9%
Average			-35.1%

Laos vs. Mongolia - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 7.0% less for housing

	Laos	Mongolia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.98 LAK194,666	$14.66 MNT49,800.00	+63.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$993.83 LAK21,535,611	$559.15 MNT1,900,000.00	-43.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$809.30 LAK17,537,087	$428.82 MNT1,457,142.86	-47.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.85 LAK1,275,144	$58.64 MNT199,261.01	-0.3%
Average			-7.0%

Laos vs. Mongolia - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.7% less for childcare

	Laos	Mongolia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$291.32 LAK6,312,816	$153.03 MNT520,000.00	-47.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,140.14 LAK198,061,034	$7,690.11 MNT26,131,000.00	-15.9%
Average			-31.7%

Laos vs. Mongolia - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Mongolia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.11 LAK23,965	$1.77 MNT6,000.00	+59.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.62 LAK35,083	$2.52 MNT8,557.14	+55.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK38,667	$1.77 MNT6,000.00	-1.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 LAK1,436,934	$59.96 MNT203,750.00	-9.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.97 LAK64,401	$4.56 MNT15,500.00	+53.5%
Average			+31.6%

Laos vs. Mongolia - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 51.8% more for clothing

	Laos	Mongolia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.60 LAK1,703,174	$66.51 MNT226,000.00	-15.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.45 LAK1,331,521	$50.62 MNT171,999.80	-17.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.22 LAK1,413,263	$88.29 MNT300,000.00	+35.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.67 LAK1,011,309	$142.24 MNT483,333.33	+204.8%
Average			+51.8%

Laos vs. Mongolia - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Laos vs.

United States

Laos vs.

China

Laos vs.

Austria

Laos vs.

Peru

Laos vs.

Spain

Laos vs.

Iceland

Laos vs.

Canada

Laos vs.

Germany

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Vientiane vs. Ulaanbaatar

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Laos

Add prices for Mongolia

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Mongolia or Laos. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.