Cost of living comparison

Vientiane, Laos

compared to

Bishkek vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Bishkek is 1.3% cheaper than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 72.5% more in Bishkek
Groceries: pay 19.4% less in Bishkek
Transportation: pay 37.5% less in Bishkek
Housing: pay 37.2% less in Bishkek
Childcare: pay 32.0% less in Bishkek
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.8% more in Bishkek
Clothing: pay 30.9% more in Bishkek

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

Bishkek vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 72.5% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Bishkek
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 LAK42,864	$5.80 KGS507.25	+192.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,296	$5.68 KGS497.11	+91.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,431	$0.68 KGS59.14	+27.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,146	$0.33 KGS28.98	-21.7%
Average			+72.5%

Vientiane vs. Bishkek - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.4% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Bishkek
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,717	$0.48 KGS41.78	-47.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK296,574	$5.14 KGS449.42	-62.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK138,793	$3.25 KGS283.83	-49.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,847	$1.76 KGS153.67	+0.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,793	$2.41 KGS211.16	-18.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,066	$0.47 KGS41.22	-46.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,643	$0.85 KGS74.39	+72.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK19,963	$0.94 KGS82.52	+2.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,881	$0.90 KGS78.92	+51.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,694	$0.23 KGS19.88	-68.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,903	$0.24 KGS21.00	-47.6%
Average			-19.4%

Vientiane vs. Bishkek - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.5% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Bishkek
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK108,184	$2.90 KGS254.01	-42.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,064,402	$7.54 KGS659.43	-84.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK612,483,800	$39,443.16 KGS3,449,303.94	+39.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK241,752	$4.18 KGS365.22	-62.7%
Average			-37.5%

Vientiane vs. Bishkek - Cost of transportation

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pay 37.2% less for housing

	Vientiane	Bishkek
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK241,548	$12.05 KGS1,053.48	+7.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,574,364	$474.69 KGS41,511.27	-44.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,776,173	$353.07 KGS30,875.68	-54.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,174,112	$23.19 KGS2,027.91	-57.3%
Average			-37.2%

Vientiane vs. Bishkek - Cost of housing

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pay 32.0% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Bishkek
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,191,908	$230.15 KGS20,126.58	-30.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK200,031,610	$6,168.50 KGS539,435.63	-33.3%
Average			-32.0%

Vientiane vs. Bishkek - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Bishkek
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,508	$1.16 KGS101.45	+22.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,333	$2.06 KGS179.79	+37.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,291	$1.56 KGS136.45	-1.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,075,316	$43.01 KGS3,760.83	-13.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,752	$4.35 KGS380.44	+24.2%
Average			+13.8%

Vientiane vs. Bishkek - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.9% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Bishkek
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,856,178	$40.60 KGS3,550.75	-52.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,359,399	$38.86 KGS3,398.58	-38.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,238,524	$103.88 KGS9,084.40	+81.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK896,716	$96.67 KGS8,454.18	+133.1%
Average			+30.9%

Vientiane vs. Bishkek - 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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