Cost of living comparison

Brunei

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Bandar Seri Begawan Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 3.4% more expensive than Bandar Seri Begawan.

Restaurants: pay 24.3% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 11.7% less in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 3.4 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 11.6% less in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 81.3% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 39.3% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 47.0% less in Vientiane

The cost of transportation and childcare in Vientiane are more expensive than in Bandar Seri Begawan. Expenses including clothing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, and housing are lower in Vientiane. Notably, transportation and childcare are significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

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Vientiane vs. Bandar Seri Begawan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 24.3% less for restaurants

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.91 BND5.00	$2.67 LAK60,254	-31.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 BND7.91	$5.35 LAK121K	-13.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.92 BND1.18	$0.71 LAK16,068	-22.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 BND0.66	$0.37 LAK8,410	-27.6%
Average			-24.3%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.7% less for groceries

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.72 BND2.20	$1.14 LAK25,737	-33.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 BND6.01	$13.59 LAK306K	+190.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.05 BND9.03	$7.61 LAK171K	+8.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.04 BND2.62	$1.87 LAK42,101	-8.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.04 BND2.61	$2.81 LAK63,330	+37.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.42 BND1.82	$1.09 LAK24,464	-23.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 BND1.27	$0.52 LAK11,662	-47.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 BND1.70	$1.19 LAK26,832	-10.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 BND1.48	$0.69 LAK15,639	-39.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 BND0.99	$0.66 LAK14,918	-14.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 BND1.19	$0.49 LAK10,995	-47.5%
Average			-11.7%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.4 times more for transportation

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.55 BND1.99	$5.62 LAK127K	+262.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$0.78 BND1.00	$48.44 LAK1M	+6101.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$42,965.55 BND55,045.14	$28,190.13 LAK635M	-34.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$30.47 BND39.03	$8.47 LAK191K	-72.2%
Average			+241.4%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.6% less for housing

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.10 BND83.40	$12.33 LAK278K	-81.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$720.60 BND923.19	$643.47 LAK15M	-10.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$473.37 BND606.46	$414.50 LAK9M	-12.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.90 BND60.08	$69.22 LAK2M	+47.6%
Average			-11.6%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 81.3% more for childcare

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$216.79 BND277.73	$625.02 LAK14M	+188.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,724.87 BND12,458.98	$11,083.07 LAK250M	+14.0%
Average			+81.3%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 39.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.95 BND2.50	$1.36 LAK30,629	-30.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.91 BND5.00	$1.79 LAK40,336	-54.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$15.63 BND20.02	$1.78 LAK40,169	-88.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.57 BND58.38	$47.54 LAK1M	+4.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.47 BND7.00	$4.23 LAK95,401	-22.6%
Average			-39.3%

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

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pay 47.0% less for clothing

	Bandar Seri Begawan	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$76.16 BND97.58	$26.74 LAK603K	-64.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$93.73 BND120.08	$66.85 LAK2M	-28.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.14 BND130.86	$56.75 LAK1M	-44.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.26 BND92.58	$41.00 LAK924K	-43.3%
Average			-47.0%

Bandar Seri Begawan vs. Vientiane - 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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