Cost of living comparison

Vientiane, Laos

compared to

Gaborone, Botswana

Gaborone vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Gaborone is 39.8% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Gaborone
Groceries: pay 7.3% less in Gaborone
Transportation: pay 0.9% less in Gaborone
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Gaborone
Childcare: pay 52.7% less in Gaborone
Entertainment and Sports: pay 77.8% more in Gaborone
Clothing: pay 11.1% more in Gaborone

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

Gaborone vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Gaborone
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 LAK42,952	$7.50 BWP103.72	+278.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,428	$6.00 BWP82.98	+101.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,455	$0.83 BWP11.52	+57.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,164	$0.49 BWP6.75	+15.4%
Average			+113.1%

Vientiane vs. Gaborone - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.3% less for groceries

	Vientiane	Gaborone
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,758	$0.81 BWP11.24	-10.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK297,182	$3.37 BWP46.61	-75.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK139,077	$5.06 BWP70.02	-21.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,924	$2.29 BWP31.70	+30.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,924	$2.27 BWP31.46	-23.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,105	$0.77 BWP10.71	-12.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,665	$0.62 BWP8.57	+25.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK20,004	$0.88 BWP12.23	-4.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,908	$0.65 BWP8.93	+8.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,727	$0.60 BWP8.26	-17.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,923	$0.55 BWP7.58	+19.5%
Average			-7.3%

Vientiane vs. Gaborone - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.9% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Gaborone
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK108,406	$4.27 BWP59.13	-14.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,066,583	$28.18 BWP389.98	-42.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK613,738,867	$22,486.26 BWP311,156.90	-20.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK242,248	$19.49 BWP269.67	+74.3%
Average			-0.9%

Vientiane vs. Gaborone - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Vientiane	Gaborone
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK242,043	$90.60 BWP1,253.70	+710.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,612,425	$254.84 BWP3,526.44	-70.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,810,550	$149.91 BWP2,074.38	-80.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,176,518	$49.21 BWP680.97	-9.4%
Average			+137.6%

Vientiane vs. Gaborone - Cost of housing

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pay 52.7% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Gaborone
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,206,645	$180.24 BWP2,494.12	-45.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK200,441,503	$3,740.68 BWP51,762.25	-59.6%
Average			-52.7%

Vientiane vs. Gaborone - Cost of childcare

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pay 77.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Gaborone
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,550	$2.25 BWP31.12	+137.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,400	$2.37 BWP32.79	+58.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,361	$3.75 BWP51.86	+136.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,077,519	$32.19 BWP445.42	-35.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,908	$6.75 BWP93.35	+92.5%
Average			+77.8%

Vientiane vs. Gaborone - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.1% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Gaborone
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,859,982	$44.14 BWP610.79	-48.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,362,184	$22.17 BWP306.71	-64.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,241,062	$76.20 BWP1,054.48	+33.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK898,554	$93.16 BWP1,289.08	+124.6%
Average			+11.1%

Vientiane vs. Gaborone - 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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