Cost of living comparison

Vientiane, Laos

compared to

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Kuala Lumpur is 23.9% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 66.9% more in Kuala Lumpur
Groceries: pay 6.3% more in Kuala Lumpur
Transportation: pay 29.4% less in Kuala Lumpur
Housing: pay 7.1% more in Kuala Lumpur
Childcare: pay 14.1% less in Kuala Lumpur
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Kuala Lumpur
Clothing: pay 8.4% more in Kuala Lumpur

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

Kuala Lumpur vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kuala Lumpur instead of Vientiane, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 66.9% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Kuala Lumpur
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 LAK42,781	$4.54 MYR19.20	+129.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,171	$4.54 MYR19.20	+52.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,409	$0.84 MYR3.56	+59.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,128	$0.53 MYR2.26	+26.2%
Average			+66.9%

Vientiane vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.3% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Kuala Lumpur
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,679	$0.95 MYR4.00	+3.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK295,999	$7.58 MYR32.03	-44.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK138,524	$7.22 MYR30.51	+12.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,773	$2.36 MYR9.96	+34.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,670	$1.94 MYR8.18	-34.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,029	$1.24 MYR5.24	+40.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,623	$0.69 MYR2.92	+40.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK19,924	$1.25 MYR5.29	+35.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,856	$0.63 MYR2.65	+5.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,664	$0.47 MYR1.97	-35.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,884	$0.51 MYR2.17	+11.9%
Average			+6.3%

Vientiane vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.4% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Kuala Lumpur
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK107,974	$1.77 MYR7.50	-64.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,062,338	$11.36 MYR48.01	-76.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK611,296,389	$37,478.71 MYR158,441.23	+32.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK241,284	$10.22 MYR43.21	-8.6%
Average			-29.4%

Vientiane vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.1% more for housing

	Vientiane	Kuala Lumpur
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK241,080	$25.27 MYR106.81	+126.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,538,354	$536.30 MYR2,267.19	-37.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,743,650	$371.69 MYR1,571.32	-52.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,171,836	$50.02 MYR211.47	-7.9%
Average			+7.1%

Vientiane vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of housing

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pay 14.1% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Kuala Lumpur
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,177,965	$250.80 MYR1,060.28	-24.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK199,643,812	$8,920.55 MYR37,711.63	-3.6%
Average			-14.1%

Vientiane vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Kuala Lumpur
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,469	$4.09 MYR17.28	+331.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,271	$2.92 MYR12.34	+95.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,225	$4.09 MYR17.28	+157.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,073,231	$44.75 MYR189.17	-10.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,606	$4.77 MYR20.17	+36.1%
Average			+122.0%

Vientiane vs. Kuala Lumpur - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.4% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Kuala Lumpur
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,852,580	$57.74 MYR244.09	-32.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,356,763	$35.00 MYR147.97	-44.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,236,123	$76.75 MYR324.47	+34.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK894,978	$73.25 MYR309.68	+76.6%
Average			+8.4%

Vientiane vs. Kuala Lumpur - 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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