Cost of living comparison

compared to

New Zealand vs. Tonga Cost of Living Summary

New Zealand is 5.1 times more expensive than Tonga overall.

Restaurants: pay 1.8% more in New Zealand
Groceries: pay 7.0% more in New Zealand
Transportation: pay 80.9% more in New Zealand
Housing: pay 48.0% less in New Zealand
Childcare: pay 23.1 times more in New Zealand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.9% more in New Zealand
Clothing: pay 6.6 times more in New Zealand

The cost of childcare, clothing, transportation, entertainment and sports, groceries, and restaurants in New Zealand are more expensive than in Tonga. Notably, childcare, clothing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in New Zealand.

New Zealand vs. Tonga Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Zealand instead of Tonga, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 1.8% more for restaurants

	Tonga	New Zealand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.40 TOP20.23	$13.47 NZ$23.50	+60.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.50 TOP25.29	$8.81 NZ$15.37	-16.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.66 TOP6.41	$2.16 NZ$3.77	-18.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.38 TOP5.73	$1.94 NZ$3.39	-18.3%
Average			+1.8%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.0% more for groceries

	Tonga	New Zealand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.05 TOP2.53	$1.86 NZ$3.25	+77.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.55 TOP10.96	$3.77 NZ$6.57	-17.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.99 TOP14.42	$6.55 NZ$11.42	+9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.15 TOP12.41	$5.92 NZ$10.34	+15.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.70 TOP6.50	$4.25 NZ$7.41	+57.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 TOP3.06	$1.15 NZ$2.00	-9.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.27 TOP3.06	$1.04 NZ$1.82	-18.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 TOP3.21	$1.31 NZ$2.28	-2.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.71 TOP4.13	$2.31 NZ$4.03	+34.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.46 TOP3.52	$0.90 NZ$1.57	-38.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.21 TOP2.91	$0.83 NZ$1.45	-31.1%
Average			+7.0%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of groceries

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pay 80.9% more for transportation

	Tonga	New Zealand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.57 TOP13.40	$6.26 NZ$10.92	+12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.01 TOP101.15	$69.15 NZ$120.63	+64.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$5,881.34 TOP14,160.85	$24,735.85 NZ$43,150.21	+320.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$69.32 TOP166.90	$17.90 NZ$31.23	-74.2%
Average			+80.9%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of transportation

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pay 48.0% less for housing

	Tonga	New Zealand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$126.03 TOP303.45	$51.16 NZ$89.24	-59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$1,007.66 NZ$1,757.81
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	??	$809.64 NZ$1,412.36
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$144.56 TOP348.07	$91.68 NZ$159.92	-36.6%
Average			-48.0%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of housing

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pay 23.1 times more for childcare

	Tonga	New Zealand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$159.64 TOP384.37	$611.89 NZ$1,067.40	+283.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$252.06 TOP606.89	$10,661.07 NZ$18,597.60	+4129.6%
Average			+2206.5%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Tonga	New Zealand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.36 TOP8.09	$6.10 NZ$10.63	+81.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.94 TOP7.08	$3.30 NZ$5.76	+12.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.29 TOP24.78	$22.88 NZ$39.91	+122.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.51 TOP75.86	$38.53 NZ$67.21	+22.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$42.01 TOP101.15	$10.92 NZ$19.04	-74.0%
Average			+32.9%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.6 times more for clothing

	Tonga	New Zealand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$4.20 TOP10.11	$65.31 NZ$113.92	+1454.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.85 TOP42.99	$40.78 NZ$71.14	+128.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$21.00 TOP50.57	$93.71 NZ$163.47	+346.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$29.41 TOP70.80	$121.74 NZ$212.37	+314.0%
Average			+560.8%

Tonga vs. New Zealand - 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: February 2025

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