Cost of living comparison

Papua New Guinea

compared to

Vanuatu

Vanuatu vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

Vanuatu is 62.6% more expensive than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 71.6% more in Vanuatu
Groceries: pay 60.7% more in Vanuatu
Transportation: pay 75.2% more in Vanuatu
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in Vanuatu
Childcare: pay 20.7% more in Vanuatu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 83.2% more in Vanuatu
Clothing: pay 19.4% more in Vanuatu

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

Vanuatu vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 71.6% more for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	Vanuatu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.38 PGK51.03	$11.23 VUV1,334	-9.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.43 PGK30.62	$9.60 VUV1,139	+29.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.28	$2.17 VUV257	+172.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 PGK3.67	$1.73 VUV206	+94.3%
Average			+71.6%

Papua New Guinea vs. Vanuatu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 60.7% more for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	Vanuatu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 PGK6.12	$2.46 VUV293	+65.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.20 PGK9.06	$10.11 VUV1,200	+359.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.01 PGK28.91	$8.55 VUV1,014	+21.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.68 PGK15.19	$5.20 VUV618	+41.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.28 PGK13.50	$8.41 VUV998	+156.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 PGK6.41	$2.23 VUV265	+43.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.19 PGK4.92	$0.96 VUV113	-20.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.74 PGK7.18	$2.53 VUV301	+45.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.02 PGK8.33	$1.15 VUV136	-43.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 PGK6.48	$1.98 VUV235	+26.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37 PGK5.63	$0.96 VUV114	-29.5%
Average			+60.7%

Papua New Guinea vs. Vanuatu - Cost of groceries

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pay 75.2% more for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	Vanuatu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.29 PGK17.68	$7.17 VUV852	+67.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.69 PGK68.78	$67.38 VUV8,000	+303.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,877.21 PGK106,653.16	$23,163.36 VUV2,750,000	-10.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.04 PGK90.83	$8.84 VUV1,050	-59.9%
Average			+75.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. Vanuatu - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Papua New Guinea	Vanuatu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$309.54 PGK1,275.76	$228.83 VUV27,167	-26.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,346.03 PGK9,669.21	$1,867.11 VUV221,667	-20.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$609.17 PGK2,510.69	$1,407.24 VUV167,070	+131.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$78.11 PGK321.94	$347.82 VUV41,294	+345.3%
Average			+107.5%

Papua New Guinea vs. Vanuatu - Cost of housing

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pay 20.7% more for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	Vanuatu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$494.23 PGK2,036.96	$469.58 VUV55,750	-5.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,498.59 PGK18,540.98	$6,586.82 VUV782,000	+46.4%
Average			+20.7%

Papua New Guinea vs. Vanuatu - Cost of childcare

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pay 83.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	Vanuatu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.48 PGK10.21	$4.59 VUV545	+85.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.83 PGK7.55	$5.09 VUV604	+177.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.48 PGK30.82	$9.27 VUV1,100	+23.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.19 PGK186.26	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.67 PGK35.72	$12.63 VUV1,500	+45.8%
Average			+83.2%

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

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pay 19.4% more for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	Vanuatu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.25 PGK161.77	$46.33 VUV5,500	+18.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.57 PGK183.71	$67.38 VUV8,000	+51.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.38 PGK265.36	$101.08 VUV12,000	+57.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.43 PGK405.69	$50.54 VUV6,000	-48.7%
Average			+19.4%

Papua New Guinea vs. Vanuatu - 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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