Cost of living comparison

Port Vila, Vanuatu

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Port Vila Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 37.3% cheaper than Port Vila.

Restaurants: pay 75.7% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 47.2% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 2.1% less in Vientiane
Housing: pay 69.6% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 5.7% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 76.3% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 4.4% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Port Vila Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Port Vila, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 75.7% less for restaurants

	Port Vila	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.23 VUV1,334	$1.98 LAK42,814	-82.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.60 VUV1,139	$2.97 LAK64,221	-69.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.17 VUV257	$0.53 LAK11,418	-75.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 VUV206	$0.42 LAK9,135	-75.6%
Average			-75.7%

Port Vila vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.2% less for groceries

	Port Vila	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$2.46 VUV293	$0.91 LAK19,694	-63.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.11 VUV1,200	$13.72 LAK296,229	+35.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.55 VUV1,014	$6.42 LAK138,631	-24.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.20 VUV618	$1.75 LAK37,803	-66.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.41 VUV998	$2.95 LAK63,719	-64.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.23 VUV265	$0.88 LAK19,044	-60.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 VUV113	$0.49 LAK10,631	-48.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.53 VUV301	$0.92 LAK19,940	-63.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 VUV136	$0.60 LAK12,866	-48.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 VUV235	$0.73 LAK15,676	-63.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 VUV114	$0.46 LAK9,892	-52.4%
Average			-47.2%

Port Vila vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1% less for transportation

	Port Vila	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.17 VUV852	$5.00 LAK108,058	-30.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$67.38 VUV8,000	$49.23 LAK1,063,162	-26.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,163.36 VUV2,750,000	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	+22.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.84 VUV1,050	$11.18 LAK241,471	+26.4%
Average			-2.1%

Port Vila vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 69.6% less for housing

	Port Vila	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$228.83 VUV27,167	$11.17 LAK241,267	-95.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,867.11 VUV221,667	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	-54.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,407.24 VUV167,070	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	-44.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$347.82 VUV41,294	$54.31 LAK1,172,744	-84.4%
Average			-69.6%

Port Vila vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.7% more for childcare

	Port Vila	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$469.58 VUV55,750	$332.66 LAK7,183,531	-29.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,586.82 VUV782,000	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	+40.5%
Average			+5.7%

Port Vila vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 76.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Port Vila	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.59 VUV545	$0.95 LAK20,485	-79.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.09 VUV604	$1.50 LAK32,296	-70.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.27 VUV1,100	$1.59 LAK34,251	-82.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$49.74 LAK1,074,063
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.63 VUV1,500	$3.50 LAK75,664	-72.3%
Average			-76.3%

Port Vila vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.4% more for clothing

	Port Vila	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.33 VUV5,500	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	+85.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$67.38 VUV8,000	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	-6.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.08 VUV12,000	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	-43.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.54 VUV6,000	$41.48 LAK895,672	-17.9%
Average			+4.4%

Port Vila vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Port Vila vs.

Rome

Port Vila vs.

Singapore

Port Vila vs.

Hong Kong

Port Vila vs.

Washington

Port Vila vs.

Phnom Penh

Port Vila vs.

Canberra

Port Vila vs.

Ankara

Port Vila vs.

Wellington

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Vanuatu vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Vanuatu and Laos.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Port Vila

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Vientiane or Port Vila. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.