Cost of living comparison

Vientiane, Laos

compared to

Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia vs. Vientiane Cost of Living Summary

Sofia is 57.9% more expensive than Vientiane.

Restaurants: pay 3.4 times more in Sofia
Groceries: pay 17.8% more in Sofia
Transportation: pay 14.6% less in Sofia
Housing: pay 13.2% more in Sofia
Childcare: pay 19.8% more in Sofia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 92.0% more in Sofia
Clothing: pay 38.8% more in Sofia

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

Sofia vs. Vientiane Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.4 times more for restaurants

	Vientiane	Sofia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.98 LAK42,814	$10.96 BGN18.98	+452.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.97 LAK64,221	$8.22 BGN14.23	+176.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.53 LAK11,418	$1.48 BGN2.56	+179.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 LAK9,135	$1.03 BGN1.78	+143.5%
Average			+238.1%

Vientiane vs. Sofia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.8% more for groceries

	Vientiane	Sofia
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 LAK19,694	$1.12 BGN1.94	+23.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.72 LAK296,229	$5.28 BGN9.14	-61.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 LAK138,631	$6.60 BGN11.42	+2.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.75 LAK37,803	$3.55 BGN6.14	+102.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.95 LAK63,719	$3.50 BGN6.06	+18.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 LAK19,044	$0.80 BGN1.39	-9.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,631	$0.85 BGN1.48	+73.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 LAK19,940	$0.81 BGN1.40	-12.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 LAK12,866	$1.11 BGN1.92	+86.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 LAK15,676	$0.51 BGN0.88	-30.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,892	$0.47 BGN0.81	+2.5%
Average			+17.8%

Vientiane vs. Sofia - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.6% less for transportation

	Vientiane	Sofia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.00 LAK108,058	$5.66 BGN9.79	+13.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$49.23 LAK1,063,162	$27.40 BGN47.44	-44.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,330.27 LAK611,770,395	$29,952.87 BGN51,860.40	+5.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.18 LAK241,471	$7.51 BGN13.00	-32.9%
Average			-14.6%

Vientiane vs. Sofia - Cost of transportation

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pay 13.2% more for housing

	Vientiane	Sofia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.17 LAK241,267	$13.48 BGN23.34	+20.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$859.15 LAK18,552,729	$570.94 BGN988.52	-33.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$775.98 LAK16,756,633	$430.23 BGN744.90	-44.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.31 LAK1,172,744	$114.12 BGN197.59	+110.1%
Average			+13.2%

Vientiane vs. Sofia - Cost of housing

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pay 19.8% more for childcare

	Vientiane	Sofia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$332.66 LAK7,183,531	$554.43 BGN959.94	+66.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,252.41 LAK199,798,618	$6,747.31 BGN11,682.30	-27.1%
Average			+19.8%

Vientiane vs. Sofia - Cost of childcare

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pay 92.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Vientiane	Sofia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.95 LAK20,485	$2.74 BGN4.74	+188.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 LAK32,296	$2.26 BGN3.92	+51.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 LAK34,251	$3.34 BGN5.79	+110.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.74 LAK1,074,063	$37.04 BGN64.14	-25.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 LAK75,664	$8.22 BGN14.23	+134.6%
Average			+92.0%

Vientiane vs. Sofia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 38.8% more for clothing

	Vientiane	Sofia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.86 LAK1,854,016	$70.63 BGN122.29	-17.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.88 LAK1,357,815	$33.57 BGN58.12	-46.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.29 LAK1,237,081	$99.28 BGN171.89	+73.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.48 LAK895,672	$102.16 BGN176.88	+146.3%
Average			+38.8%

Vientiane vs. Sofia - 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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