Cost of living comparison

Nairobi, Kenya

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 44.3% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 35.3% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 31.7% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 17.1% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 57.5% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 34.3% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Nairobi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 35.3% less for restaurants

	Nairobi	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 KES497.08	$1.98 LAK42,875	-48.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES795.33	$2.97 LAK64,312	-51.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 KES85.49	$0.53 LAK11,434	-20.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 KES68.69	$0.42 LAK9,148	-20.6%
Average			-35.3%

Nairobi vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.7% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.56 KES72.00	$0.91 LAK19,722	+63.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.59 KES721.09	$13.72 LAK296,651	+145.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.35 KES432.35	$6.42 LAK138,829	+91.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 KES219.65	$1.75 LAK37,857	+2.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 KES349.53	$2.95 LAK63,810	+8.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 KES163.02	$0.88 LAK19,071	-30.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 KES64.45	$0.49 LAK10,646	-1.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 KES112.71	$0.92 LAK19,968	+5.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES58.97	$0.60 LAK12,885	+30.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 KES62.24	$0.73 LAK15,698	+50.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 KES71.76	$0.46 LAK9,906	-17.7%
Average			+31.7%

Nairobi vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.1% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.17 KES796.50	$5.00 LAK108,212	-19.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.83 KES3,976.67	$49.23 LAK1,064,677	+59.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,266.80 KES2,485,417.29	$28,330.27 LAK612,642,077	+47.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.87 KES1,789.50	$11.18 LAK241,815	-19.4%
Average			+17.1%

Nairobi vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Nairobi	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.39 KES5,081.66	$11.17 LAK241,611	-71.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$428.53 KES55,280.12	$859.15 LAK18,579,164	+100.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.44 KES21,470.18	$775.98 LAK16,780,509	+366.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$22.39 KES2,888.63	$54.31 LAK1,174,415	+142.5%
Average			+134.4%

Nairobi vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 57.5% more for childcare

	Nairobi	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$166.67 KES21,501.04	$332.66 LAK7,193,766	+99.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,008.06 KES1,033,039.32	$9,252.41 LAK200,083,301	+15.5%
Average			+57.5%

Nairobi vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 34.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 KES298.25	$0.95 LAK20,514	-59.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.24 KES289.07	$1.50 LAK32,342	-33.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.08 KES397.67	$1.59 LAK34,300	-48.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.12 KES5,691.10	$49.74 LAK1,075,594	+12.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.17 KES795.33	$3.50 LAK75,772	-43.2%
Average			-34.3%

Nairobi vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Nairobi	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.84 KES2,172.73	$85.86 LAK1,856,658	+409.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.95 KES2,960.41	$62.88 LAK1,359,750	+174.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$61.84 KES7,977.01	$57.29 LAK1,238,844	-7.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 KES6,772.72	$41.48 LAK896,948	-21.0%
Average			+138.8%

Nairobi vs. Vientiane - 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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