Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 2.2 times more expensive than Zambia overall.

Restaurants: pay 86.8% more in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 79.2% more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 60.0% more in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 4.9 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 74.0% more in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0 times more in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 60.1% more in Papua New Guinea

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, childcare, and clothing in Papua New Guinea are more expensive than in Zambia. Notably, housing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Zambia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 86.8% more for restaurants

	Zambia	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.21 ZMW207.16	$12.38 PGK51.03	+71.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.82 ZMW109.78	$7.43 PGK30.62	+94.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 ZMW20.50	$0.80 PGK3.28	+11.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ZMW9.50	$0.89 PGK3.67	+169.4%
Average			+86.8%

Zambia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 79.2% more for groceries

	Zambia	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$0.74 ZMW21.25	$1.49 PGK6.12	+100.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.64 ZMW104.44	$2.20 PGK9.06	-39.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.85 ZMW139.39	$7.01 PGK28.91	+44.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.92 ZMW55.29	$3.68 PGK15.19	+91.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.80 ZMW51.61	$3.28 PGK13.50	+82.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.20 ZMW34.50	$1.56 PGK6.41	+29.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 ZMW17.34	$1.19 PGK4.92	+97.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.27 ZMW36.35	$1.74 PGK7.18	+37.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 ZMW16.18	$2.02 PGK8.33	+258.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 ZMW27.46	$1.57 PGK6.48	+64.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.67 ZMW19.36	$1.37 PGK5.63	+102.8%
Average			+79.2%

Zambia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.0% more for transportation

	Zambia	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.77 ZMW136.90	$4.29 PGK17.68	-10.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.04 ZMW1,063.96	$16.69 PGK68.78	-54.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,004.53 ZMW229,954.14	$25,877.21 PGK106,653.16	+223.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.13 ZMW348.46	$22.04 PGK90.83	+81.7%
Average			+60.0%

Zambia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.9 times more for housing

	Zambia	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$125.92 ZMW3,617.41	$309.54 PGK1,275.76	+145.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$214.42 ZMW6,159.94	$2,346.03 PGK9,669.21	+994.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$114.96 ZMW3,302.53	$609.17 PGK2,510.69	+429.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$83.50 ZMW2,398.84	$78.11 PGK321.94	-6.5%
Average			+390.8%

Zambia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 74.0% more for childcare

	Zambia	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$176.79 ZMW5,078.81	$494.23 PGK2,036.96	+179.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,570.42 ZMW188,755.18	$4,498.59 PGK18,540.98	-31.5%
Average			+74.0%

Zambia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Zambia	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.97 ZMW27.78	$2.48 PGK10.21	+156.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 ZMW59.57	$1.83 PGK7.55	-11.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.49 ZMW71.51	$7.48 PGK30.82	+200.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.21 ZMW1,183.94	$45.19 PGK186.26	+9.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.50 ZMW100.53	$8.67 PGK35.72	+147.7%
Average			+100.5%

Zambia vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 60.1% more for clothing

	Zambia	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.43 ZMW529.60	$39.25 PGK161.77	+112.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$18.78 ZMW539.63	$44.57 PGK183.71	+137.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.18 ZMW2,590.59	$64.38 PGK265.36	-28.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.76 ZMW2,377.57	$98.43 PGK405.69	+18.9%
Average			+60.1%

Zambia vs. Papua New Guinea - 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: April 2025

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