Cost of living comparison

Nicaragua

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 2.1 times more expensive than Nicaragua overall.

Restaurants: pay 63.4% more in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 50.7% more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 72.0% more in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 4.5 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 65.5% more in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 9.2% more in Papua New Guinea

The cost of housing, childcare, transportation, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries in Papua New Guinea are more expensive than in Nicaragua. Notably, housing and childcare are significantly more expensive in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea vs. Nicaragua Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 63.4% more for restaurants

	Nicaragua	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.15 NIO152.79	$12.38 PGK51.03	+198.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.48 NIO201.56	$7.43 PGK30.62	+35.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.95 NIO35.02	$0.80 PGK3.28	-16.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 NIO24.11	$0.89 PGK3.67	+36.1%
Average			+63.4%

Nicaragua vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 50.7% more for groceries

	Nicaragua	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 NIO52.75	$1.49 PGK6.12	+3.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.35 NIO86.58	$2.20 PGK9.06	-6.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.24 NIO156.02	$7.01 PGK28.91	+65.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 NIO69.15	$3.68 PGK15.19	+96.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 NIO81.12	$3.28 PGK13.50	+48.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.80 NIO103.00	$1.56 PGK6.41	-44.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 NIO22.13	$1.19 PGK4.92	+98.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.72 NIO63.27	$1.74 PGK7.18	+1.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.65 NIO24.09	$2.02 PGK8.33	+208.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.08 NIO39.75	$1.57 PGK6.48	+45.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.97 NIO35.80	$1.37 PGK5.63	+40.5%
Average			+50.7%

Nicaragua vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 72.0% more for transportation

	Nicaragua	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 NIO189.43	$4.29 PGK17.68	-16.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.05 NIO1,105.79	$16.69 PGK68.78	-44.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,168.72 NIO668,546.20	$25,877.21 PGK106,653.16	+42.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.42 NIO199.33	$22.04 PGK90.83	+306.8%
Average			+72.0%

Nicaragua vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.5 times more for housing

	Nicaragua	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$44.72 NIO1,645.68	$309.54 PGK1,275.76	+592.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$308.00 NIO11,333.41	$2,346.03 PGK9,669.21	+661.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$281.86 NIO10,371.57	$609.17 PGK2,510.69	+116.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$52.83 NIO1,943.82	$78.11 PGK321.94	+47.9%
Average			+354.4%

Nicaragua vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Nicaragua	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.78 NIO4,149.83	$494.23 PGK2,036.96	+338.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,900.00 NIO364,285.84	$4,498.59 PGK18,540.98	-54.6%
Average			+141.8%

Nicaragua vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 65.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Nicaragua	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.22 NIO44.80	$2.48 PGK10.21	+103.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.28 NIO83.89	$1.83 PGK7.55	-19.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.97 NIO109.14	$7.48 PGK30.82	+152.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.12 NIO961.30	$45.19 PGK186.26	+73.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.30 NIO268.52	$8.67 PGK35.72	+18.8%
Average			+65.5%

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

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pay 9.2% more for clothing

	Nicaragua	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$42.40 NIO1,560.25	$39.25 PGK161.77	-7.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.36 NIO1,485.07	$44.57 PGK183.71	+10.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$58.79 NIO2,163.33	$64.38 PGK265.36	+9.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$79.04 NIO2,908.34	$98.43 PGK405.69	+24.5%
Average			+9.2%

Nicaragua 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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