Cost of living comparison

Brunei

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Bandar Seri Begawan Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 25.0% cheaper than Bandar Seri Begawan.

Restaurants: pay 3.3% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 24.2% less in Colombo
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Colombo
Housing: pay 31.7% less in Colombo
Childcare: pay 85.3% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 36.1% less in Colombo
Clothing: pay 62.9% less in Colombo

Expenses including childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, and restaurants are lower in Colombo. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Colombo.

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Colombo vs. Bandar Seri Begawan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Bandar Seri Begawan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3% less for restaurants

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.91 BND5.00	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	-2.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 BND7.91	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+22.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 BND1.18	$0.70 LKR232.56	-24.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 BND0.66	$0.26 LKR87.00	-49.1%
Average			-3.3%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.2% less for groceries

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.72 BND2.20	$0.55 LKR181.98	-68.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 BND6.01	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+47.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.05 BND9.03	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	-14.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.04 BND2.62	$1.64 LKR541.78	-19.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.04 BND2.61	$2.21 LKR731.08	+8.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.42 BND1.82	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+116.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 BND1.27	$0.37 LKR122.81	-62.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 BND1.70	$2.03 LKR672.87	+52.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 BND1.48	$0.57 LKR187.42	-50.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 BND0.99	$0.46 LKR150.85	-40.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 BND1.19	$0.35 LKR116.82	-62.1%
Average			-24.2%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.55 BND1.99	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+230.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$0.78 BND1.00	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	+820.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$42,965.55 BND55,045.14	$37,024.95 LKR12M	-13.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.47 BND39.03	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-89.2%
Average			+102.7%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.7% less for housing

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.10 BND83.40	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	-68.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$720.60 BND923.19	$589.61 LKR195K	-18.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$473.37 BND606.46	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	-42.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.90 BND60.08	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	-12.3%
Average			-31.7%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 85.3% less for childcare

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$216.79 BND277.73	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-82.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,724.87 BND12,458.98	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-87.6%
Average			-85.3%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 36.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 BND2.50	$2.21 LKR730.76	+13.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.91 BND5.00	$2.51 LKR832.69	-35.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$15.63 BND20.02	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	-34.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.57 BND58.38	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-69.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.47 BND7.00	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	-17.1%
Average			-36.1%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 62.9% less for clothing

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.16 BND97.58	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	-76.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$93.73 BND120.08	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-82.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.14 BND130.86	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	-22.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.26 BND92.58	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	-42.2%
Average			-62.9%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Colombo - 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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