Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 41.0% more expensive than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 70.5% more in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 37.4% more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 3.2% less in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.3% less in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 17.1% less in Papua New Guinea

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

Papua New Guinea vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Maldives, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 70.5% more for restaurants

	Maldives	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.50 MVR84.72	$12.38 PGK51.03	+125.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.71 MVR149.51	$7.43 PGK30.62	-23.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MVR18.69	$0.80 PGK3.28	-34.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.28 MVR4.36	$0.89 PGK3.67	+214.8%
Average			+70.5%

Maldives vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.4% more for groceries

	Maldives	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.54 MVR23.67	$1.49 PGK6.12	-3.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.65 MVR87.05	$2.20 PGK9.06	-61.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.78 MVR104.47	$7.01 PGK28.91	+3.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.65 MVR25.42	$3.68 PGK15.19	+123.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.47 MVR38.07	$3.28 PGK13.50	+32.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.00 MVR30.80	$1.56 PGK6.41	-22.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.70 MVR26.22	$1.19 PGK4.92	-29.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.74 MVR26.84	$1.74 PGK7.18
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.61 MVR24.87	$2.02 PGK8.33	+25.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 MVR9.62	$1.57 PGK6.48	+151.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 MVR8.27	$1.37 PGK5.63	+154.6%
Average			+37.4%

Maldives vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.2% less for transportation

	Maldives	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.56 MVR54.78	$4.29 PGK17.68	+20.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.65 MVR348.87	$16.69 PGK68.78	-26.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,834.95 MVR598,058.25	$25,877.21 PGK106,653.16	-33.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.48 MVR269.13	$22.04 PGK90.83	+26.1%
Average			-3.2%

Maldives vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Maldives	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.94 MVR1,015.45	$309.54 PGK1,275.76	+369.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,098.53 MVR16,917.30	$2,346.03 PGK9,669.21	+113.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$829.29 MVR12,771.04	$609.17 PGK2,510.69	-26.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$94.04 MVR1,448.24	$78.11 PGK321.94	-16.9%
Average			+109.9%

Maldives vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Maldives	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$172.53 MVR2,657.00	$494.23 PGK2,036.96	+186.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,198.06 MVR49,250.10	$4,498.59 PGK18,540.98	+40.7%
Average			+113.6%

Maldives vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.69 MVR72.27	$2.48 PGK10.21	-47.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.24 MVR49.84	$1.83 PGK7.55	-43.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.12 MVR109.64	$7.48 PGK30.82	+5.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$71.60 MVR1,102.67	$45.19 PGK186.26	-36.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.58 MVR132.07	$8.67 PGK35.72	+1.1%
Average			-24.3%

Maldives vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.1% less for clothing

	Maldives	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.89 MVR860.71	$39.25 PGK161.77	-29.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$58.79 MVR905.39	$44.57 PGK183.71	-24.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.13 MVR1,557.44	$64.38 PGK265.36	-36.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$80.91 MVR1,245.95	$98.43 PGK405.69	+21.7%
Average			-17.1%

Maldives vs. Papua New Guinea - 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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