Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Moldova Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 92.5% more expensive than Moldova overall.

Restaurants: pay 89.3% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 75.1% more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 86.1% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 2.4% less in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Moldova Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 89.3% more for restaurants

	Moldova	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.37 MDL114.42	$9.75 CRC4,870.79	+52.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.65 MDL119.40	$9.08 CRC4,538.01	+36.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL15.93	$2.01 CRC1,004.69	+126.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 MDL11.10	$1.49 CRC745.33	+141.3%
Average			+89.3%

Moldova vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Moldova	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$0.45 MDL8.10	$2.53 CRC1,265.34	+461.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.73 MDL84.87	$3.76 CRC1,880.24	-20.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.55 MDL81.75	$6.98 CRC3,485.87	+53.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.91 MDL34.28	$3.21 CRC1,605.14	+68.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.35 MDL42.21	$3.97 CRC1,984.26	+68.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.36 MDL6.41	$1.79 CRC894.15	+401.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MDL14.37	$0.62 CRC308.26	-22.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 MDL13.43	$1.22 CRC607.84	+62.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.86 MDL15.44	$1.22 CRC610.46	+42.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 MDL5.42	$1.09 CRC546.82	+262.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.30 MDL5.43	$1.11 CRC556.53	+268.4%
Average			+149.6%

Moldova vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Moldova	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.99 MDL89.64	$5.63 CRC2,811.83	+12.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.97 MDL232.82	$49.00 CRC24,484.83	+277.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,774.44 MDL462,655.89	$35,063.37 CRC17,521,201.52	+36.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.49 MDL80.59	$15.62 CRC7,806.44	+248.0%
Average			+143.6%

Moldova vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Moldova	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.34 MDL185.63	$48.50 CRC24,235.71	+369.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$453.48 MDL8,139.98	$778.04 CRC388,786.19	+71.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$380.54 MDL6,830.69	$547.50 CRC273,587.94	+43.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$170.43 MDL3,059.28	$68.26 CRC34,108.45	-60.0%
Average			+106.1%

Moldova vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 75.1% more for childcare

	Moldova	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$368.94 MDL6,622.63	$519.07 CRC259,378.58	+40.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,247.42 MDL94,192.12	$10,987.74 CRC5,490,586.13	+109.4%
Average			+75.1%

Moldova vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 86.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Moldova	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.25 MDL22.39	$2.73 CRC1,362.76	+118.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.42 MDL25.47	$3.65 CRC1,826.03	+157.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.77 MDL49.75	$4.58 CRC2,289.78	+65.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.20 MDL757.51	$59.46 CRC29,712.51	+40.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.82 MDL104.47	$8.63 CRC4,310.38	+48.2%
Average			+86.1%

Moldova vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4% less for clothing

	Moldova	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.93 MDL1,129.57	$65.32 CRC32,642.29	+3.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.50 MDL870.59	$44.54 CRC22,256.86	-8.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.60 MDL1,698.06	$110.39 CRC55,159.76	+16.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.56 MDL2,235.89	$97.22 CRC48,579.36	-22.0%
Average			-2.4%

Moldova 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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