Cost of living comparison

Vientiane, Laos

compared to

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Port Moresby is 2.7 times more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 3.1 times more in Port Moresby
Groceries: pay 88.3% more in Port Moresby
Transportation: pay 2.0% more in Port Moresby
Housing: pay 8.2 times more in Port Moresby
Childcare: pay 1.4% less in Port Moresby
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4 times more in Port Moresby
Clothing: pay 16.6% more in Port Moresby

The cost of housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, clothing, and transportation in Port Moresby are more expensive than in Vientiane. Notably, housing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Port Moresby.

Port Moresby vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Port Moresby instead of Vientiane, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.1 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 LAK42,771	$12.38 PGK51.09	+524.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,156	$7.43 PGK30.66	+149.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,406	$0.80 PGK3.28	+50.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,126	$0.89 PGK3.68	+110.7%
Average			+208.9%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of restaurants

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pay 88.3% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,674	$1.49 PGK6.13	+62.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK295,931	$2.20 PGK9.07	-84.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK138,492	$7.01 PGK28.95	+9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,765	$3.68 PGK15.20	+110.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,655	$3.28 PGK13.52	+11.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,025	$1.56 PGK6.42	+76.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,620	$1.19 PGK4.93	+142.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK19,920	$1.74 PGK7.19	+88.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,853	$2.02 PGK8.34	+239.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,660	$1.57 PGK6.49	+116.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,882	$1.37 PGK5.64	+198.3%
Average			+88.3%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0% more for transportation

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK107,949	$4.29 PGK17.70	-14.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,062,092	$16.69 PGK68.86	-66.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK611,154,737	$25,877.21 PGK106,782.29	-8.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK241,228	$22.04 PGK90.94	+97.1%
Average			+2.0%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.2 times more for housing

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK241,024	$309.54 PGK1,277.30	+2670.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,534,058	$2,346.03 PGK9,680.91	+173.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,739,770	$609.17 PGK2,513.73	-21.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,171,564	$78.11 PGK322.33	+43.8%
Average			+716.5%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of housing

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pay 1.4% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,176,302	$494.23 PGK2,039.42	+48.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK199,597,550	$4,498.59 PGK18,563.43	-51.4%
Average			-1.4%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,464	$2.48 PGK10.22	+161.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,263	$1.83 PGK7.56	+22.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,217	$7.48 PGK30.86	+371.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,072,982	$45.19 PGK186.49	-9.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,588	$8.67 PGK35.76	+147.4%
Average			+138.7%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.6% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,852,151	$39.25 PGK161.96	-54.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,356,449	$44.57 PGK183.93	-29.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,235,836	$64.38 PGK265.68	+12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK894,770	$98.43 PGK406.18	+137.3%
Average			+16.6%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - 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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See the cost of living in Laos vs. Papua New Guinea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Laos and Papua New Guinea.

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