Cost of living comparison

Thimphu, Bhutan

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Thimphu Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 3.6 times more expensive than Thimphu.

Restaurants: pay 22.6% more in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 3.9 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 5.1 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 7.5 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.2% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 4.4 times more in Vientiane

The cost of childcare, housing, clothing, transportation, groceries, and restaurants in Vientiane are more expensive than in Thimphu. Notably, childcare, housing, and clothing are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Thimphu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 22.6% more for restaurants

	Thimphu	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.95 BTN253.16	$1.98 LAK42,864	-32.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.95 BTN253.16	$2.97 LAK64,296	+0.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 BTN47.59	$0.53 LAK11,431	-4.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.19 BTN16.03	$0.42 LAK9,146	+126.7%
Average			+22.6%

Thimphu vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	Thimphu	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.94 BTN81.01	$0.91 LAK19,717	-3.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.68 BTN144.30	$13.72 LAK296,574	+716.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.17 BTN272.16	$6.42 LAK138,793	+102.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.20 BTN189.36	$1.75 LAK37,847	-20.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.74 BTN149.28	$2.95 LAK63,793	+69.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 BTN91.87	$0.88 LAK19,066	-17.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 BTN56.27	$0.49 LAK10,643	-24.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 BTN70.74	$0.92 LAK19,963	+12.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.37 BTN31.69	$0.60 LAK12,881	+61.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 BTN19.75	$0.73 LAK15,694	+215.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN22.05	$0.46 LAK9,903	+78.5%
Average			+108.3%

Thimphu vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.9 times more for transportation

	Thimphu	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.93 BTN337.29	$5.00 LAK108,184	+27.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$3.97 BTN340.78	$49.23 LAK1,064,402	+1141.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,215.98 BTN1,822,757.32	$28,330.27 LAK612,483,800	+33.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.09 BTN1,296.18	$11.18 LAK241,752	-25.9%
Average			+294.1%

Thimphu vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.1 times more for housing

	Thimphu	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.25 BTN2,684.44	$11.17 LAK241,548	-64.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$124.45 BTN10,692.15	$859.15 LAK18,574,364	+590.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$79.38 BTN6,820.07	$775.98 LAK16,776,173	+877.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$16.69 BTN1,433.67	$54.31 LAK1,174,112	+225.4%
Average			+407.3%

Thimphu vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 7.5 times more for childcare

	Thimphu	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$246.05 BTN21,138.92	$332.66 LAK7,191,908	+35.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$677.73 BTN58,226.97	$9,252.41 LAK200,031,610	+1265.2%
Average			+650.2%

Thimphu vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Thimphu	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.43 BTN552.56	$0.95 LAK20,508	-85.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.53 BTN131.64	$1.50 LAK32,333	-2.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.83 BTN329.11	$1.59 LAK34,291	-58.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.11 BTN4,219.35	$49.74 LAK1,075,316	+1.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.54 BTN303.79	$3.50 LAK75,752	-0.9%
Average			-29.2%

Thimphu vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.4 times more for clothing

	Thimphu	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$9.43 BTN810.11	$85.86 LAK1,856,178	+810.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$11.79 BTN1,012.64	$62.88 LAK1,359,399	+433.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$32.41 BTN2,784.77	$57.29 LAK1,238,524	+76.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.41 BTN2,784.77	$41.48 LAK896,716	+28.0%
Average			+337.2%

Thimphu 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: April 2025

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