Cost of living comparison

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

compared to

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Port Moresby Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 39.0% cheaper than Port Moresby.

Restaurants: pay 33.9% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 1.5% less in Colombo
Transportation: pay 24.0% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 74.1% less in Colombo
Childcare: pay 90.6% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.3% less in Colombo
Clothing: pay 32.4% less in Colombo

Expenses including childcare, housing, restaurants, clothing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Colombo.

Colombo vs. Port Moresby Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Port Moresby, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.9% less for restaurants

	Port Moresby	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.38 PGK50.86	$3.40 LKR1,016.53	-72.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.43 PGK30.52	$7.48 LKR2,236.37	+0.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.27	$0.74 LKR221.10	-7.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 PGK3.66	$0.39 LKR116.90	-56.2%
Average			-33.9%

Port Moresby vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.5% less for groceries

	Port Moresby	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 PGK6.10	$0.57 LKR170.41	-61.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.20 PGK9.03	$6.94 LKR2,074.88	+215.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.01 PGK28.81	$6.54 LKR1,956.32	-6.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.68 PGK15.14	$2.22 LKR663.36	-39.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.28 PGK13.46	$2.38 LKR712.23	-27.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 PGK6.39	$3.28 LKR980.13	+110.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.19 PGK4.91	$0.51 LKR152.64	-57.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.74 PGK7.16	$2.65 LKR791.37	+51.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.02 PGK8.31	$0.53 LKR158.41	-73.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 PGK6.46	$0.51 LKR152.09	-67.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37 PGK5.61	$0.55 LKR163.24	-60.1%
Average			-1.5%

Port Moresby vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.0% less for transportation

	Port Moresby	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.29 PGK17.62	$4.84 LKR1,446.59	+12.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.69 PGK68.55	$6.80 LKR2,033.07	-59.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,877.21 PGK106,297.09	$35,303.89 LKR10,561,783.88	+36.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.04 PGK90.53	$3.13 LKR935.21	-85.8%
Average			-24.0%

Port Moresby vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 74.1% less for housing

	Port Moresby	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$309.54 PGK1,271.50	$16.40 LKR4,905.98	-94.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,346.03 PGK9,636.93	$297.60 LKR89,031.40	-87.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$609.17 PGK2,502.30	$180.09 LKR53,876.18	-70.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$78.11 PGK320.87	$43.85 LKR13,117.45	-43.9%
Average			-74.1%

Port Moresby vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 90.6% less for childcare

	Port Moresby	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$494.23 PGK2,030.16	$28.60 LKR8,555.82	-94.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,498.59 PGK18,479.08	$586.98 LKR175,606.18	-87.0%
Average			-90.6%

Port Moresby vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Port Moresby	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.48 PGK10.17	$2.04 LKR609.92	-17.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.83 PGK7.53	$2.59 LKR775.02	+41.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.48 PGK30.72	$9.34 LKR2,795.47	+24.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.19 PGK185.64	$13.89 LKR4,154.10	-69.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.67 PGK35.60	$3.40 LKR1,016.53	-60.8%
Average			-16.3%

Port Moresby vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.4% less for clothing

	Port Moresby	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.25 PGK161.23	$29.69 LKR8,882.47	-24.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.57 PGK183.10	$22.31 LKR6,675.24	-49.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.38 PGK264.47	$68.77 LKR20,573.76	+6.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.43 PGK404.34	$37.51 LKR11,220.97	-61.9%
Average			-32.4%

Port Moresby vs. Colombo - 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: June 2025

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See the cost of living in Papua New Guinea vs. Sri Lanka. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka.

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