Cost of living comparison

Afghanistan

compared to

India

India vs. Afghanistan Cost of Living Summary

India is 9.2% cheaper than Afghanistan overall.

Restaurants: pay 19.6% less in India
Groceries: pay 7.2% less in India
Transportation: pay 16.3% less in India
Housing: pay 23.9% less in India
Childcare: pay 95.7% more in India
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.0% more in India
Clothing: pay 19.6% more in India

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, and clothing in India are more expensive than in Afghanistan. Expenses including housing, restaurants, transportation, and groceries are lower in India. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in India.

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India vs. Afghanistan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in India instead of Afghanistan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.6% less for restaurants

	Afghanistan	India
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.77 AFN180	$2.22 ₹211.04	-19.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 AFN300	$3.57 ₹338.96	-22.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 AFN31	$0.37 ₹35.47	-21.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.15 AFN10	$0.15 ₹13.87	-5.1%
Average			-19.6%

Afghanistan vs. India - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.2% less for groceries

	Afghanistan	India
Bread 1 loaf	$0.24 AFN16	$0.44 ₹41.72	+83.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.19 AFN142	$2.34 ₹222.59	+6.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.21 AFN208	$2.37 ₹224.63	-26.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.55 AFN101	$0.89 ₹84.42	-42.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.81 AFN118	$1.26 ₹119.35	-30.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.32 AFN21	$0.84 ₹79.52	+161.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 AFN26	$0.29 ₹27.63	-26.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.42 AFN27	$0.44 ₹41.59	+4.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.24 AFN16	$0.21 ₹20.08	-11.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 AFN18	$0.15 ₹14.49	-45.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 AFN15	$0.17 ₹16.61	-21.7%
Average			-7.2%

Afghanistan vs. India - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.3% less for transportation

	Afghanistan	India
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.19 AFN272	$4.08 ₹387.26	-2.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.77 AFN1,350	$8.73 ₹829.19	-58.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,461.54 AFN550K	$12,591.59 ₹1M	+48.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.77 AFN375	$2.85 ₹270.19	-50.7%
Average			-16.3%

Afghanistan vs. India - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.9% less for housing

	Afghanistan	India
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$96.92 AFN6,300	$6.74 ₹639.88	-93.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$123.08 AFN8,000	$124.39 ₹11,812.52	+1.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$108.80 AFN7,072	$82.02 ₹7,789.00	-24.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$32.46 AFN2,110	$26.32 ₹2,499.56	-18.9%
Average			-23.9%

Afghanistan vs. India - Cost of housing

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pay 95.7% more for childcare

	Afghanistan	India
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$20.26 AFN1,317	$51.10 ₹4,852.07	+152.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,046.15 AFN68,000	$1,587.68 ₹151K	+51.8%
Average			+95.7%

Afghanistan vs. India - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Afghanistan	India
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 AFN150	$1.76 ₹166.91	-23.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.10 AFN71	$1.55 ₹147.08	+40.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.38 AFN155	$4.35 ₹412.80	+82.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$11.08 AFN720	$14.86 ₹1,410.70	+34.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.31 AFN150	$2.93 ₹278.11	+26.9%
Average			+23.0%

Afghanistan vs. India - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.6% more for clothing

	Afghanistan	India
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.64 AFN692	$21.28 ₹2,020.85	+100.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.00 AFN1,040	$21.90 ₹2,080.09	+36.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.69 AFN3,750	$37.98 ₹3,606.87	-34.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$25.08 AFN1,630	$28.46 ₹2,702.81	+13.5%
Average			+19.6%

Afghanistan vs. India - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Afghanistan vs. India

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in India?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Make 6.5 times more money in India

Size Comparison · See true size

Afghanistan is about 5 times smaller than India.

Moving from Afghanistan to India · UN DESA 2020

16,094 people born in Afghanistan live in India.

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