Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cook Islands vs. Australia Cost of Living Summary

Cook Islands is 23.7% cheaper than Australia overall.

Restaurants: pay 6.1% less in Cook Islands
Groceries: pay 9.2% more in Cook Islands
Transportation: pay 5.8% less in Cook Islands
Housing: pay 21.9% less in Cook Islands
Childcare: pay 90.0% less in Cook Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.6% less in Cook Islands
Clothing: pay 20.8% less in Cook Islands

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, clothing, restaurants, and transportation are lower in Cook Islands.

Cook Islands vs. Australia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cook Islands instead of Australia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.1% less for restaurants

	Australia	Cook Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.15 A$26.23	$11.54 NZ$20.12	-32.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.64 A$14.74	$7.93 NZ$13.83	-17.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.63 A$4.03	$2.88 NZ$5.03	+9.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.14 A$3.28	$2.50 NZ$4.36	+16.6%
Average			-6.1%

Australia vs. Cook Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 9.2% more for groceries

	Australia	Cook Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$2.39 A$3.66	$3.11 NZ$5.42	+30.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.21 A$6.45	$4.98 NZ$8.68	+18.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.84 A$8.94	$7.37 NZ$12.85	+26.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.36 A$6.68	$5.57 NZ$9.71	+27.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.87 A$5.92	$3.40 NZ$5.93	-12.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.27	$1.30 NZ$2.27	-12.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.27 A$1.94	$1.05 NZ$1.83	-17.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.32 A$2.01	$1.56 NZ$2.73	+18.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93 A$2.95	$2.75 NZ$4.79	+42.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 A$1.68	$1.05 NZ$1.83	-4.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.97 A$1.49	$0.82 NZ$1.44	-15.4%
Average			+9.2%

Australia vs. Cook Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.8% less for transportation

	Australia	Cook Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.48 A$6.85	$6.56 NZ$11.45	+46.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$86.18 A$131.83	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,666.22 A$42,322.49	$11,538.70 NZ$20,123.30	-58.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.83 A$27.28	??
Average			-5.8%

Australia vs. Cook Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.9% less for housing

	Australia	Cook Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.93 A$84.03	$105.96 NZ$184.80	+92.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,188.50 A$1,818.11	$305.77 NZ$533.27	-74.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$962.42 A$1,472.26	$305.77 NZ$533.27	-68.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$133.71 A$204.55	$82.72 NZ$144.27	-38.1%
Average			-21.9%

Australia vs. Cook Islands - Cost of housing

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pay 90.0% less for childcare

	Australia	Cook Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,475.00 A$2,256.38	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,848.50 A$21,184.78	$1,384.64 NZ$2,414.80	-90.0%
Average			-90.0%

Australia vs. Cook Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Australia	Cook Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.47 A$9.90	$5.99 NZ$10.44	-7.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 A$5.45	$3.80 NZ$6.62	+6.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$28.78 A$44.02	$14.42 NZ$25.15	-49.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.13 A$78.22	$24.04 NZ$41.92	-53.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.10 A$20.04	$6.63 NZ$11.57	-49.4%
Average			-30.6%

Australia vs. Cook Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.8% less for clothing

	Australia	Cook Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.65 A$106.54	$64.62 NZ$112.69	-7.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.53 A$74.24	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.22 A$151.78	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.98 A$165.18	$70.96 NZ$123.76	-34.3%
Average			-20.8%

Australia vs. Cook Islands - 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: December 2025

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