Cost of living comparison

Vientiane, Laos

compared to

Lusaka, Zambia

Lusaka vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Lusaka is 37.9% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 76.3% more in Lusaka
Groceries: pay 2.1% more in Lusaka
Transportation: pay 23.2% less in Lusaka
Housing: pay 3.3 times more in Lusaka
Childcare: pay 38.0% less in Lusaka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.0% more in Lusaka
Clothing: pay 2.1% more in Lusaka

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

Lusaka vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 76.3% more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Lusaka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 LAK42,952	$7.21 ZMW200.28	+263.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,428	$3.82 ZMW106.13	+28.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,455	$0.71 ZMW19.82	+35.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,164	$0.33 ZMW9.19	-21.8%
Average			+76.3%

Vientiane vs. Lusaka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Lusaka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,758	$0.74 ZMW20.54	-18.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK297,182	$3.64 ZMW100.98	-73.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK139,077	$4.85 ZMW134.76	-24.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,924	$1.92 ZMW53.45	+9.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,924	$1.80 ZMW49.90	-39.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,105	$1.20 ZMW33.35	+36.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,665	$0.60 ZMW16.77	+22.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK20,004	$1.27 ZMW35.14	+37.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,908	$0.56 ZMW15.64	-5.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,727	$0.96 ZMW26.55	+31.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,923	$0.67 ZMW18.71	+47.1%
Average			+2.1%

Vientiane vs. Lusaka - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.2% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Lusaka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK108,406	$4.77 ZMW132.35	-4.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,066,583	$37.04 ZMW1,028.63	-24.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK613,738,867	$8,004.53 ZMW222,318.66	-71.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK242,248	$12.13 ZMW336.89	+8.5%
Average			-23.2%

Vientiane vs. Lusaka - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.3 times more for housing

	Vientiane	Lusaka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK242,043	$125.92 ZMW3,497.29	+1027.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,612,425	$214.42 ZMW5,955.40	-75.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,810,550	$114.96 ZMW3,192.88	-85.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,176,518	$83.50 ZMW2,319.19	+53.8%
Average			+230.2%

Vientiane vs. Lusaka - Cost of housing

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pay 38.0% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Lusaka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,206,645	$176.79 ZMW4,910.17	-46.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK200,441,503	$6,570.42 ZMW182,487.69	-29.0%
Average			-38.0%

Vientiane vs. Lusaka - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Lusaka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,550	$0.97 ZMW26.85	+1.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,400	$2.07 ZMW57.59	+38.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,361	$2.49 ZMW69.13	+56.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,077,519	$41.21 ZMW1,144.63	-17.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,908	$3.50 ZMW97.19	-0.1%
Average			+16.0%

Vientiane vs. Lusaka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Lusaka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,859,982	$18.43 ZMW512.01	-78.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,362,184	$18.78 ZMW521.71	-70.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,241,062	$90.18 ZMW2,504.57	+57.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK898,554	$82.76 ZMW2,298.62	+99.5%
Average			+2.1%

Vientiane vs. Lusaka - 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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