Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Apia Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 7.7% more expensive than Apia.

Restaurants
pay 84.5% less in Vientiane
Groceries
pay 6.7% more in Vientiane
Transportation
pay 13.9% less in Vientiane
Housing
pay 2.5 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports
pay 55.8% less in Vientiane

The cost of housing and groceries in Vientiane are more expensive than in Apia. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Vientiane. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Apia Cost Breakdown

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

pay 84.5% less for restaurants

 
Apia
Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $47.26
WST130.00
$2.67
LAK60,275
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$14.54
WST40.00
$5.35
LAK121K
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.82
WST5.00
$0.71
LAK16,073

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pay 6.7% more for groceries

 
Apia
Vientiane
Bread
1 loaf
$0.82
WST2.25
$1.14
LAK25,746
Local cheese (8 oz) $0.45
WST1.25
$13.59
LAK306K
Milk (1 gallon) $6.88
WST18.93
$7.61
LAK172K

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pay 13.9% less for transportation

 
Apia
Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.13
WST11.36
$5.62
LAK127K
Monthly public transit pass ?? $48.44
LAK1M
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $28,190.13
LAK635M

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

 
Apia
Vientiane
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$36.35
WST100.00
$12.33
LAK278K
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area ?? $643.47
LAK15M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center ?? $414.50
LAK9M

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Apia
Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $625.02
LAK14M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $11,083.07
LAK250M

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pay 55.8% less for entertainment and sports

 
Apia
Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.45
WST9.50
$1.36
LAK30,640
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.91
WST8.00
$1.79
LAK40,351
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$6.18
WST17.00
$1.78
LAK40,183

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Apia
Vientiane
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $26.74
LAK603K
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $66.85
LAK2M
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $56.75
LAK1M

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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