Cost of living comparison

Taipei, Taiwan

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Taipei Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 18.5% cheaper than Taipei.

Restaurants: pay 48.4% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 35.9% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 19.2% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 8.7% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 47.5% less in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.4% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 15.6% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Taipei Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.4% less for restaurants

	Taipei	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.18 NT$184.99	$1.98 LAK42,814	-67.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.01 NT$149.84	$2.97 LAK64,221	-40.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.00 NT$30.05	$0.53 LAK11,418	-47.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 NT$20.32	$0.42 LAK9,135	-37.7%
Average			-48.4%

Taipei vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.9% less for groceries

	Taipei	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.86 NT$55.60	$0.91 LAK19,694	-50.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.37 NT$250.55	$13.72 LAK296,229	+63.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.77 NT$322.22	$6.42 LAK138,631	-40.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.72 NT$81.30	$1.75 LAK37,803	-35.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37 NT$130.62	$2.95 LAK63,719	-32.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.06 NT$61.69	$0.88 LAK19,044	-57.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NT$30.31	$0.49 LAK10,631	-51.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.25 NT$37.30	$0.92 LAK19,940	-25.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 NT$46.52	$0.60 LAK12,866	-61.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 NT$38.87	$0.73 LAK15,676	-44.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.11 NT$33.21	$0.46 LAK9,892	-58.7%
Average			-35.9%

Taipei vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.2% more for transportation

	Taipei	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.68 NT$110.23	$5.00 LAK108,058	+35.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.10 NT$1,109.91	$49.23 LAK1,063,162	+32.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,750.62 NT$1,039,616.75	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	-18.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.81 NT$263.60	$11.18 LAK241,471	+26.9%
Average			+19.2%

Taipei vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.7% more for housing

	Taipei	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.04 NT$719.15	$11.17 LAK241,267	-53.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$630.95 NT$18,875.79	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	+36.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$465.35 NT$13,921.73	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	+66.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.62 NT$1,903.30	$54.31 LAK1,172,744	-14.6%
Average			+8.7%

Taipei vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 47.5% less for childcare

	Taipei	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$610.09 NT$18,251.87	$332.66 LAK7,183,531	-45.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,275.33 NT$546,734.00	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	-49.4%
Average			-47.5%

Taipei vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Taipei	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 NT$78.62	$0.95 LAK20,485	-63.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.05 NT$91.17	$1.50 LAK32,296	-50.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.71 NT$110.99	$1.59 LAK34,251	-57.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.32 NT$1,146.29	$49.74 LAK1,074,063	+29.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.89 NT$295.98	$3.50 LAK75,664	-64.6%
Average			-41.4%

Taipei vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.6% more for clothing

	Taipei	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.02 NT$1,675.97	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	+53.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$31.15 NT$932.00	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	+101.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.26 NT$2,550.66	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	-32.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.43 NT$3,094.30	$41.48 LAK895,672	-59.9%
Average			+15.6%

Taipei 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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