Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Bamako Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 49.7% more expensive than Bamako.

Restaurants
pay 31.8% less in Vientiane
Groceries
pay 23.5% less in Vientiane
Transportation
pay 17.4% more in Vientiane
Housing
pay 3.9 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports
pay 0.5% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Bamako Cost Breakdown

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

pay 31.8% less for restaurants

 
Bamako
Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $6.70
F CFA3,836
$2.31
LAK49,458
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$6.42
F CFA3,676
$5.54
LAK119K
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.77
F CFA442
$0.62
LAK13,282

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pay 23.5% less for groceries

 
Bamako
Vientiane
Bread
1 loaf
$3.84
F CFA2,196
$1.17
LAK25,008
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.91
F CFA5,098
$13.94
LAK299K
Milk (1 gallon) $8.86
F CFA5,069
$7.32
LAK157K

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pay 17.4% more for transportation

 
Bamako
Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.41
F CFA2,525
$5.18
LAK111K
Monthly public transit pass ?? $50.18
LAK1M
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) ?? $28,736.24
LAK616M

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pay 3.9 times more for housing

 
Bamako
Vientiane
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$57.51
F CFA32,909
$11.39
LAK244K
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $175.00
F CFA100K
$866.78
LAK19M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $80.00
F CFA45,777
$784.74
LAK17M

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

 
Bamako
Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly ?? $338.54
LAK7M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters ?? $9,334.55
LAK200M

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pay 0.5% more for entertainment and sports

 
Bamako
Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.39
F CFA1,365
$1.50
LAK32,148
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.89
F CFA1,081
$1.73
LAK37,093
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$0.93
F CFA534
$1.96
LAK42,040

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Bamako
Vientiane
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
?? $27.70
LAK593K
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
?? $69.25
LAK1M
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
?? $58.22
LAK1M

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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: March 2026
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