Cost of living comparison

Turkmenistan

compared to

Bhutan

Thimphu vs. Ashgabat Cost of Living Summary

Thimphu is 80.3% cheaper than Ashgabat.

Restaurants: pay 82.3% less in Thimphu
Groceries: pay 74.8% less in Thimphu
Transportation: pay 21.1% less in Thimphu
Housing: pay 91.3% less in Thimphu
Childcare: pay 78.8% less in Thimphu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.6% less in Thimphu
Clothing: pay 77.4% less in Thimphu

Expenses including housing, restaurants, childcare, clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Thimphu.

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Thimphu vs. Ashgabat Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Thimphu instead of Ashgabat, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 82.3% less for restaurants

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$31.43 TMT110.31	$2.58 BTN245.70	-91.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.86 TMT45.13	$4.91 BTN466.83	-61.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 TMT5.52	$0.50 BTN47.50	-68.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 TMT3.01	$0.18 BTN17.20	-78.9%
Average			-82.3%

Ashgabat vs. Thimphu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 74.8% less for groceries

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Bread 1 loaf	$2.04 TMT7.15	$1.07 BTN101.96	-47.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$18.82 TMT66.06	$1.88 BTN178.54	-90.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$17.09 TMT59.98	$3.03 BTN288.32	-82.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.00 TMT21.06	$1.88 BTN178.87	-68.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.07 TMT31.84	$1.79 BTN170.51	-80.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.30 TMT8.07	$1.15 BTN109.22	-50.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$3.84 TMT13.49	$0.69 BTN65.75	-82.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.40 TMT11.94	$0.73 BTN69.10	-78.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.67 TMT5.87	$0.33 BTN31.76	-80.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 TMT3.64	$0.26 BTN24.52	-75.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 TMT2.27	$0.31 BTN29.53	-52.0%
Average			-74.8%

Ashgabat vs. Thimphu - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.1% less for transportation

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.62 TMT5.69	$2.79 BTN264.82	+71.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 TMT35.10	$5.17 BTN491.40	-48.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$43,928.57 TMT154K	$16,591.53 BTN2M	-62.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.71 TMT34.10	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	+35.7%
Average			-21.1%

Ashgabat vs. Thimphu - Cost of transportation

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pay 91.3% less for housing

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$102.86 TMT361.03	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	-76.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,414.29 TMT4,964.14	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	-91.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,000.00 TMT3,510.00	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	-91.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$436.97 TMT1,533.78	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	-94.1%
Average			-91.3%

Ashgabat vs. Thimphu - Cost of housing

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pay 78.8% less for childcare

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$22.86 TMT80.23	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	+96.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,807.14 TMT87,073.07	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	-97.7%
Average			-78.8%

Ashgabat vs. Thimphu - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.71 TMT20.06	$2.58 BTN245.70	-54.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$6.79 TMT23.82	$1.28 BTN121.21	-81.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.71 TMT90.26	$3.88 BTN368.55	-84.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$195.24 TMT685.29	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	-76.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.57 TMT30.09	$3.10 BTN294.84	-63.8%
Average			-72.6%

Ashgabat vs. Thimphu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 77.4% less for clothing

	Ashgabat	Thimphu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.71 TMT195.56	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	-10.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$114.29 TMT401.14	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	-78.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$364.29 TMT1,278.64	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	-81.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$192.86 TMT676.93	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	-92.8%
Average			-77.4%

Ashgabat vs. Thimphu - 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

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