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 LAK42,814	$12.38 PGK51.59	+524.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,221	$7.43 PGK30.96	+149.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,418	$0.80 PGK3.32	+50.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,135	$0.89 PGK3.71	+110.7%
Average			+208.9%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 88.3% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,694	$1.49 PGK6.19	+62.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK296,229	$2.20 PGK9.16	-84.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK138,631	$7.01 PGK29.23	+9.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,803	$3.68 PGK15.35	+110.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,719	$3.28 PGK13.65	+11.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,044	$1.56 PGK6.48	+76.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,631	$1.19 PGK4.98	+142.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK19,940	$1.74 PGK7.26	+88.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,866	$2.02 PGK8.42	+239.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,676	$1.57 PGK6.55	+116.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,892	$1.37 PGK5.69	+198.3%
Average			+88.3%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0% more for transportation

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK108,058	$4.29 PGK17.87	-14.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,063,162	$16.69 PGK69.54	-66.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	$25,877.21 PGK107,829.80	-8.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK241,471	$22.04 PGK91.84	+97.1%
Average			+2.0%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.2 times more for housing

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK241,267	$309.54 PGK1,289.83	+2670.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	$2,346.03 PGK9,775.88	+173.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	$609.17 PGK2,538.39	-21.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,172,744	$78.11 PGK325.49	+43.8%
Average			+716.5%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.4% less for childcare

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,183,531	$494.23 PGK2,059.43	+48.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	$4,498.59 PGK18,745.53	-51.4%
Average			-1.4%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,485	$2.48 PGK10.32	+161.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,296	$1.83 PGK7.64	+22.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,251	$7.48 PGK31.16	+371.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,074,063	$45.19 PGK188.32	-9.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,664	$8.67 PGK36.12	+147.4%
Average			+138.7%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.6% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Port Moresby
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	$39.25 PGK163.55	-54.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	$44.57 PGK185.74	-29.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	$64.38 PGK268.28	+12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK895,672	$98.43 PGK410.17	+137.3%
Average			+16.6%

Vientiane vs. Port Moresby - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Vientiane vs.

Rome

Vientiane vs.

Beijing

Vientiane vs.

Singapore

Vientiane vs.

Reykjavik

Vientiane vs.

Mexico City

Vientiane vs.

Wellington

Vientiane vs.

Hong Kong

Vientiane vs.

Nairobi

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Vientiane

Add prices for Port Moresby

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Port Moresby or Vientiane. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.

Ask a question about Vientiane

Ask a question about Port Moresby