Cost of living comparison

P'yongyang, North Korea

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. P'yongyang Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 3.5 times more expensive than P'yongyang.

Restaurants: pay 67.9% less in Vientiane
Housing: pay 9.5 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.5% less in Vientiane

Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Vientiane. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. P'yongyang Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of P'yongyang, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 67.9% less for restaurants

	P'yongyang	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	??	$1.98 LAK42,963
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$2.97 LAK64,444
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 KPW1,929	$0.53 LAK11,458	-75.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 KPW965	$0.42 LAK9,167	-60.5%
Average			-67.9%

P'yongyang vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay (unknown) more for groceries

	P'yongyang	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 KPW1,983	$0.91 LAK19,763	-58.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	??	$13.72 LAK297,259
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.40 KPW3,058	$6.42 LAK139,114	+89.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.52 KPW2,267	$1.75 LAK37,934	-30.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.95 LAK63,941
Apples (1 lb)	??	$0.88 LAK19,110
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.49 LAK10,668
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$0.92 LAK20,009
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.60 LAK12,911
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.73 LAK15,731
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.46 LAK9,926

P'yongyang vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay (unknown) more for transportation

	P'yongyang	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$5.00 LAK108,434
Monthly public transit pass	??	$49.23 LAK1,066,861
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$28,330.27 LAK613,898,678
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$11.18 LAK242,311

P'yongyang vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.5 times more for housing

	P'yongyang	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$11.17 LAK242,106
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$85.74 KPW77,167	$859.15 LAK18,617,272	+902.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.74 KPW77,167	$775.98 LAK16,814,927	+805.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$54.31 LAK1,176,824
Average			+853.5%

P'yongyang vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	P'yongyang	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$332.66 LAK7,208,522
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$9,252.41 LAK200,493,696

P'yongyang vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.5% less for entertainment and sports

	P'yongyang	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$12.86 KPW11,575	$0.95 LAK20,556	-92.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.07 KPW965	$1.50 LAK32,408	+39.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$1.59 LAK34,370
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$49.74 LAK1,077,800
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.50 LAK75,927
Average			-26.5%

P'yongyang vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	P'yongyang	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$85.86 LAK1,860,466
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$62.88 LAK1,362,539
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$57.29 LAK1,241,385
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$41.48 LAK898,787

P'yongyang 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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