Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 54.8% more expensive than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 22.1% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 38.5% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 29.2% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.2% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 5.5% more in Costa Rica

The cost of childcare, restaurants, transportation, groceries, and clothing in Costa Rica are more expensive than in Maldives. Expenses including housing and entertainment and sports are lower in Costa Rica. Notably, childcare and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.50 MVR84.72	$9.75 CRC4,870.79	+77.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.71 MVR149.51	$9.08 CRC4,538.01	-6.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MVR18.69	$2.01 CRC1,004.69	+65.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.28 MVR4.36	$1.49 CRC745.33	+426.7%
Average			+140.8%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.1% more for groceries

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.54 MVR23.67	$2.53 CRC1,265.34	+64.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.65 MVR87.05	$3.76 CRC1,880.24	-33.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.78 MVR104.47	$6.98 CRC3,485.87	+2.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.65 MVR25.42	$3.21 CRC1,605.14	+94.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.47 MVR38.07	$3.97 CRC1,984.26	+60.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.00 MVR30.80	$1.79 CRC894.15	-10.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.70 MVR26.22	$0.62 CRC308.26	-63.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.74 MVR26.84	$1.22 CRC607.84	-30.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.61 MVR24.87	$1.22 CRC610.46	-24.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 MVR9.62	$1.09 CRC546.82	+75.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 MVR8.27	$1.11 CRC556.53	+107.5%
Average			+22.1%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 38.5% more for transportation

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.56 MVR54.78	$5.63 CRC2,811.83	+58.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.65 MVR348.87	$49.00 CRC24,484.83	+116.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,834.95 MVR598,058.25	$35,063.37 CRC17,521,201.52	-9.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.48 MVR269.13	$15.62 CRC7,806.44	-10.6%
Average			+38.5%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.2% less for housing

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.94 MVR1,015.45	$48.50 CRC24,235.71	-26.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,098.53 MVR16,917.30	$778.04 CRC388,786.19	-29.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$829.29 MVR12,771.04	$547.50 CRC273,587.94	-34.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$94.04 MVR1,448.24	$68.26 CRC34,108.45	-27.4%
Average			-29.2%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$172.53 MVR2,657.00	$519.07 CRC259,378.58	+200.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,198.06 MVR49,250.10	$10,987.74 CRC5,490,586.13	+243.6%
Average			+222.2%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.69 MVR72.27	$2.73 CRC1,362.76	-41.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.24 MVR49.84	$3.65 CRC1,826.03	+12.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.12 MVR109.64	$4.58 CRC2,289.78	-35.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.60 MVR1,102.67	$59.46 CRC29,712.51	-17.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.58 MVR132.07	$8.63 CRC4,310.38	+0.6%
Average			-16.2%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.5% more for clothing

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.89 MVR860.71	$65.32 CRC32,642.29	+16.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$58.79 MVR905.39	$44.54 CRC22,256.86	-24.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.13 MVR1,557.44	$110.39 CRC55,159.76	+9.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$80.91 MVR1,245.95	$97.22 CRC48,579.36	+20.2%
Average			+5.5%

Maldives 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: April 2025

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