Cost of living comparison

Wellington, New Zealand

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 44.8% cheaper than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 78.3% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 20.7% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 34.9% less in Vientiane
Housing: pay 55.8% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 44.3% less in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.6% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 23.1% less in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 78.3% less for restaurants

	Wellington	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.93 NZ$25.00	$1.98 LAK42,799	-86.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.00	$2.97 LAK64,198	-66.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.57 NZ$4.31	$0.53 LAK11,414	-79.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 NZ$3.61	$0.42 LAK9,132	-80.4%
Average			-78.3%

Wellington vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.7% less for groceries

	Wellington	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.29	$0.91 LAK19,687	-53.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.15 NZ$6.95	$13.72 LAK296,125	+230.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$11.69	$6.42 LAK138,583	-8.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.84 NZ$11.45	$1.75 LAK37,789	-74.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.06 NZ$8.47	$2.95 LAK63,697	-41.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.34	$0.88 LAK19,037	-36.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 NZ$1.83	$0.49 LAK10,627	-54.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.48 NZ$2.47	$0.92 LAK19,933	-37.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.61 NZ$4.37	$0.60 LAK12,862	-77.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.70	$0.73 LAK15,671	-28.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.84 NZ$1.40	$0.46 LAK9,888	-45.4%
Average			-20.7%

Wellington vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.9% less for transportation

	Wellington	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$10.75	$5.00 LAK108,020	-22.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$127.57 NZ$213.59	$49.23 LAK1,062,788	-61.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,339.84 NZ$57,496.60	$28,330.27 LAK611,555,372	-17.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.22 NZ$30.50	$11.18 LAK241,386	-38.6%
Average			-34.9%

Wellington vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.8% less for housing

	Wellington	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.27 NZ$90.86	$11.17 LAK241,182	-79.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,487.35 NZ$2,490.32	$859.15 LAK18,546,208	-42.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,335.17 NZ$2,235.53	$775.98 LAK16,750,743	-41.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.11 NZ$224.54	$54.31 LAK1,172,332	-59.5%
Average			-55.8%

Wellington vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 44.3% less for childcare

	Wellington	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$871.44 NZ$1,459.08	$332.66 LAK7,181,006	-61.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,649.75 NZ$21,180.00	$9,252.41 LAK199,728,394	-26.9%
Average			-44.3%

Wellington vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.17 NZ$12.00	$0.95 LAK20,477	-86.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$5.72	$1.50 LAK32,284	-56.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$24.46 NZ$40.95	$1.59 LAK34,239	-93.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.85 NZ$66.72	$49.74 LAK1,073,686	+24.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.24 NZ$20.50	$3.50 LAK75,638	-71.4%
Average			-56.6%

Wellington vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.1% less for clothing

	Wellington	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.78 NZ$126.88	$85.86 LAK1,853,365	+13.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.09 NZ$92.24	$62.88 LAK1,357,338	+14.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$119.44 NZ$199.99	$57.29 LAK1,236,647	-52.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$129.60 NZ$216.99	$41.48 LAK895,357	-68.0%
Average			-23.1%

Wellington vs. Vientiane - 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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