Cost of living comparison

Pretoria, South Africa

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Pretoria Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 10.5% more expensive than Pretoria.

Restaurants: pay 52.2% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 27.4% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 12.5% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 25.7% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 73.1% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.3% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 15.2% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Pretoria Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Pretoria, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 52.2% less for restaurants

	Pretoria	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.52 ZAR152.91	$1.98 LAK42,771	-76.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.68 ZAR84.05	$2.97 LAK64,156	-36.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 ZAR18.09	$0.53 LAK11,406	-47.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 ZAR14.58	$0.42 LAK9,126	-47.9%
Average			-52.2%

Pretoria vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.4% more for groceries

	Pretoria	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 ZAR19.27	$0.91 LAK19,674	-15.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ZAR66.34	$13.72 LAK295,931	+271.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.91 ZAR88.18	$6.42 LAK138,492	+30.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.35 ZAR42.12	$1.75 LAK37,765	-25.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.08 ZAR37.27	$2.95 LAK63,655	+42.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.69 ZAR12.39	$0.88 LAK19,025	+27.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68 ZAR12.29	$0.49 LAK10,620	-28.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 ZAR13.02	$0.92 LAK19,920	+27.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 ZAR13.52	$0.60 LAK12,853	-20.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZAR11.48	$0.73 LAK15,660	+13.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 ZAR10.46	$0.46 LAK9,882	-21.4%
Average			+27.4%

Pretoria vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.5% more for transportation

	Pretoria	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.05 ZAR90.72	$5.00 LAK107,949	-1.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$65.32 ZAR1,172.30	$49.23 LAK1,062,092	-24.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,084.78 ZAR342,514.68	$28,330.27 LAK611,154,737	+48.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.78 ZAR157.50	$11.18 LAK241,228	+27.4%
Average			+12.5%

Pretoria vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.7% more for housing

	Pretoria	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.13 ZAR702.30	$11.17 LAK241,024	-71.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$416.34 ZAR7,472.12	$859.15 LAK18,534,058	+106.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$379.25 ZAR6,806.38	$775.98 LAK16,739,770	+104.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$86.03 ZAR1,543.98	$54.31 LAK1,171,564	-36.9%
Average			+25.7%

Pretoria vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 73.1% more for childcare

	Pretoria	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$216.65 ZAR3,888.24	$332.66 LAK7,176,302	+53.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,800.41 ZAR86,152.93	$9,252.41 LAK199,597,550	+92.7%
Average			+73.1%

Pretoria vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Pretoria	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.39 ZAR42.81	$0.95 LAK20,464	-60.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 ZAR35.82	$1.50 LAK32,263	-25.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.95 ZAR53.01	$1.59 LAK34,217	-46.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.21 ZAR613.97	$49.74 LAK1,072,982	+45.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.81 ZAR140.17	$3.50 LAK75,588	-55.1%
Average			-28.3%

Pretoria vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.2% more for clothing

	Pretoria	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.09 ZAR880.96	$85.86 LAK1,852,151	+74.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.65 ZAR621.83	$62.88 LAK1,356,449	+81.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.30 ZAR1,656.51	$57.29 LAK1,235,836	-37.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.31 ZAR1,764.33	$41.48 LAK894,770	-57.8%
Average			+15.2%

Pretoria 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: June 2025

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