Cost of living comparison

Santiago, Chile

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Santiago Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 6.1% cheaper than Santiago.

Restaurants: pay 71.8% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 0.7% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 14.9% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 12.3% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 15.0% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.1% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 23.4% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Santiago Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 71.8% less for restaurants

	Santiago	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.36 CLF0.3000	$1.98 LAK42,814	-84.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.24 CLF0.2000	$2.97 LAK64,221	-63.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.78 CLF0.0400	$0.53 LAK11,418	-70.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.37 CLF0.0300	$0.42 LAK9,135	-69.0%
Average			-71.8%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.7% less for groceries

	Santiago	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.48 CLF0.0400	$0.91 LAK19,694	-38.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.49 CLF0.1300	$13.72 LAK296,229	+150.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.59 CLF0.1100	$6.42 LAK138,631	+39.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.97 CLF0.1000	$1.75 LAK37,803	-55.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.88 CLF0.0700	$2.95 LAK63,719	+2.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.96 CLF0.0200	$0.88 LAK19,044	-7.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 CLF0.0200	$0.49 LAK10,631	-30.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 CLF0.0200	$0.92 LAK19,940	+1.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 CLF0.0200	$0.60 LAK12,866	-29.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 CLF0.0200	$0.73 LAK15,676	-9.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 CLF0.0200	$0.46 LAK9,892	-30.2%
Average			-0.7%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.9% more for transportation

	Santiago	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 CLF0.1300	$5.00 LAK108,058	-2.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$41.20 CLF1.0100	$49.23 LAK1,063,162	+19.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,540.00 CLF455.8100	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	+52.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.41 CLF0.3100	$11.18 LAK241,471	-9.9%
Average			+14.9%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.3% more for housing

	Santiago	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.87 CLF0.5100	$11.17 LAK241,267	-46.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$513.58 CLF12.6300	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	+67.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$439.93 CLF10.8200	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	+76.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$104.66 CLF2.5700	$54.31 LAK1,172,744	-48.1%
Average			+12.3%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.0% more for childcare

	Santiago	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$387.71 CLF9.5300	$332.66 LAK7,183,531	-14.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,421.89 CLF157.8800	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	+44.1%
Average			+15.0%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 36.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Santiago	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.83 CLF0.0700	$0.95 LAK20,485	-66.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.09 CLF0.0800	$1.50 LAK32,296	-51.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.15 CLF0.1300	$1.59 LAK34,251	-69.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.85 CLF0.8300	$49.74 LAK1,074,063	+47.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.87 CLF0.1400	$3.50 LAK75,664	-40.3%
Average			-36.1%

Santiago vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.4% more for clothing

	Santiago	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.80 CLF1.3000	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	+62.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.11 CLF0.7600	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	+102.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$73.37 CLF1.8000	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	-21.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.04 CLF2.0200	$41.48 LAK895,672	-49.4%
Average			+23.4%

Santiago 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

Santiago vs.

Dodoma

Santiago vs.

Hong Kong

Santiago vs.

Berlin

Santiago vs.

Paris

Santiago vs.

Algiers

Santiago vs.

Canberra

Santiago vs.

London

Santiago vs.

Delhi

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Add prices for Vientiane

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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