Cost of living comparison

Afghanistan

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. Afghanistan Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 34.7% more expensive than Afghanistan overall.

Restaurants: pay 12.9% more in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 91.2% more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 0.4% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 38.1% more in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 2.9% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.0% more in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 29.3% more in Sri Lanka

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

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Sri Lanka vs. Afghanistan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of Afghanistan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.9% more for restaurants

	Afghanistan	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.77 AFN180	$2.19 LKR726.11	-20.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 AFN300	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	+34.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 AFN31	$0.82 LKR270.87	+72.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.15 AFN10	$0.31 LKR101.62	+99.4%
Average			+12.9%

Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 91.2% more for groceries

	Afghanistan	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.24 AFN16	$0.50 LKR164.88	+107.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.19 AFN142	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	+132.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.21 AFN208	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	+56.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.55 AFN101	$1.59 LKR525.48	+2.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.81 AFN118	$1.92 LKR637.54	+6.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.32 AFN21	$2.39 LKR790.19	+645.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 AFN26	$0.33 LKR110.92	-15.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.42 AFN27	$1.65 LKR546.03	+293.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.24 AFN16	$0.59 LKR195.36	+147.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 AFN18	$0.45 LKR150.14	+62.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 AFN15	$0.34 LKR113.13	+53.0%
Average			+91.2%

Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.4% less for transportation

	Afghanistan	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.19 AFN272	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	+14.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.77 AFN1,350	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	-76.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,461.54 AFN550K	$29,619.96 LKR10M	+250.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.77 AFN375	$2.96 LKR979.01	-48.8%
Average			-0.4%

Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 38.1% more for housing

	Afghanistan	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$96.92 AFN6,300	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	-83.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$123.08 AFN8,000	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	+104.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$108.80 AFN7,072	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	+32.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$32.46 AFN2,110	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	+10.2%
Average			+38.1%

Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9% less for childcare

	Afghanistan	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$20.26 AFN1,317	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	+38.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,046.15 AFN68,000	$711.79 LKR236K	-32.0%
Average			-2.9%

Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Afghanistan	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 AFN150	$2.16 LKR714.17	-6.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.10 AFN71	$2.16 LKR713.82	+96.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.38 AFN155	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	+315.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$11.08 AFN720	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	-12.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.31 AFN150	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	+57.8%
Average			+41.0%

Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.3% more for clothing

	Afghanistan	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.64 AFN692	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	+104.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.00 AFN1,040	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	-17.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.69 AFN3,750	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	+24.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$25.08 AFN1,630	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	+34.0%
Average			+29.3%

Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka - 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. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sri Lanka?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Make 12.0 times more money in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

Afghanistan is about 10 times bigger than Sri Lanka.

Moving from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka · UN DESA 2020

132 people born in Afghanistan live in Sri Lanka.

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