Cost of living comparison

Wellington, New Zealand

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 42.9% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 72.8% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 19.4% less in Laos
Transportation: pay 36.5% less in Laos
Housing: pay 53.0% less in Laos
Childcare: pay 47.1% less in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.8% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 23.6% less in Laos

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, childcare, transportation, and clothing are lower in Laos.

Laos vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 72.8% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$25.39	$1.90 LAK41,018	-87.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.24	$4.20 LAK90,905	-53.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.38	$0.69 LAK14,927	-73.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.66	$0.49 LAK10,498	-77.5%
Average			-72.8%

Wellington vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.4% less for groceries

	Wellington	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.34	$1.00 LAK21,672	-48.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$7.06	$13.03 LAK281,749	+214.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$11.87	$6.40 LAK138,383	-8.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$11.63	$2.06 LAK44,643	-69.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$8.60	$2.07 LAK44,757	-59.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.38	$0.75 LAK16,109	-46.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.86	$0.74 LAK16,038	-32.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.51	$0.96 LAK20,698	-35.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.44	$1.29 LAK27,873	-50.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.72	$0.70 LAK15,027	-31.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.43	$0.45 LAK9,774	-46.1%
Average			-19.4%

Wellington vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.5% less for transportation

	Wellington	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$10.92	$4.61 LAK99,573	-28.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$216.95	$53.85 LAK1,164,291	-57.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$58,401.11	$28,167.89 LAK608,989,769	-18.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$30.98	$10.57 LAK228,600	-42.0%
Average			-36.5%

Wellington vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.0% less for housing

	Wellington	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$92.29	$8.98 LAK194,223	-83.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,529.50	$993.83 LAK21,486,560	-33.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,270.70	$809.30 LAK17,497,144	-39.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$228.07	$58.85 LAK1,272,240	-56.1%
Average			-53.0%

Wellington vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 47.1% less for childcare

	Wellington	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,482.03	$291.32 LAK6,298,438	-66.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$21,513.19	$9,140.14 LAK197,609,919	-27.7%
Average			-47.1%

Wellington vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.19	$1.11 LAK23,911	-84.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$5.81	$1.62 LAK35,003	-52.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$41.59	$1.78 LAK38,579	-92.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$67.77	$66.31 LAK1,433,661	+66.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$20.82	$2.97 LAK64,254	-75.7%
Average			-47.8%

Wellington vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.6% less for clothing

	Wellington	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$128.87	$78.60 LAK1,699,294	+3.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$93.70	$61.45 LAK1,328,488	+11.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$203.13	$65.22 LAK1,410,044	-45.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$220.40	$46.67 LAK1,009,006	-64.0%
Average			-23.6%

Wellington vs. Laos - 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: May 2025

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