Cost of living comparison

Rome, Italy

compared to

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 30.3% cheaper than Rome.

Restaurants: pay 61.0% less in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 18.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 36.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 47.5% less in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 32.9% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.5% less in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 6.7% less in Kuala Lumpur

Expenses including restaurants, housing, transportation, childcare, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Rome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 61.0% less for restaurants

	Rome	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.08 €13.65	$4.54 MYR19.18	-71.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.72 €9.10	$4.54 MYR19.18	-57.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.23 €1.90	$0.84 MYR3.56	-62.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.12 €0.95	$0.53 MYR2.25	-52.4%
Average			-61.0%

Rome vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.4% less for groceries

	Rome	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$1.78 €1.51	$0.95 MYR4.00	-46.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 €5.94	$7.58 MYR31.98	+8.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.20 €5.26	$7.22 MYR30.47	+16.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 €3.19	$2.36 MYR9.95	-37.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.89 €4.15	$1.94 MYR8.17	-60.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.91	$1.24 MYR5.23	+15.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 €0.78	$0.69 MYR2.92	-25.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 €0.76	$1.25 MYR5.28	+40.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.93	$0.63 MYR2.64	-42.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 €0.62	$0.47 MYR1.97	-36.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.78 €0.67	$0.51 MYR2.16	-34.7%
Average			-18.4%

Rome vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.4% less for transportation

	Rome	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.15 €6.07	$1.77 MYR7.48	-75.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.51 €31.85	$11.36 MYR47.94	-69.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,794.08 €22,747.96	$37,478.71 MYR158,197.61	+39.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.15 €14.56	$10.22 MYR43.14	-40.4%
Average			-36.4%

Rome vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 47.5% less for housing

	Rome	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$29.46 €25.01	$25.27 MYR106.65	-14.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,180.31 €1,002.08	$536.30 MYR2,263.70	-54.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$763.10 €647.86	$371.69 MYR1,568.90	-51.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$167.26 €142.01	$50.02 MYR211.15	-70.1%
Average			-47.5%

Rome vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 32.9% less for childcare

	Rome	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$508.83 €431.99	$250.80 MYR1,058.65	-50.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,490.67 €8,906.49	$8,920.55 MYR37,653.65	-15.0%
Average			-32.9%

Rome vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Rome	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.36 €4.55	$4.09 MYR17.26	-23.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.53 €1.30	$2.92 MYR12.32	+91.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 €5.46	$4.09 MYR17.26	-36.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.31 €49.51	$44.75 MYR188.88	-23.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.72 €9.10	$4.77 MYR20.13	-55.5%
Average			-9.5%

Rome vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.7% less for clothing

	Rome	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$65.43 €55.55	$57.74 MYR243.71	-11.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.74 €26.10	$35.00 MYR147.74	+13.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.17 €65.51	$76.75 MYR323.97	-0.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$102.32 €86.87	$73.25 MYR309.20	-28.4%
Average			-6.7%

Rome vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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: July 2025

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