Cost of living comparison

compared to

Maldives vs. Bangkok Cost of Living Summary

Maldives is 27.8% more expensive than Bangkok.

Restaurants: pay 52.9% more in Maldives
Groceries: pay 28.4% more in Maldives
Transportation: pay 1.8% less in Maldives
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Maldives
Childcare: pay 73.0% less in Maldives
Entertainment and Sports: pay 72.4% more in Maldives
Clothing: pay 8.6% less in Maldives

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and groceries in Maldives are more expensive than in Bangkok. Expenses including childcare, clothing, and transportation are lower in Maldives. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Maldives.

Maldives vs. Bangkok Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Maldives instead of Bangkok, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 52.9% more for restaurants

	Bangkok	Maldives
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.10 THB98.65	$5.56 MVR85.56	+79.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 THB197.30	$9.80 MVR150.98	+58.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 THB25.19	$1.45 MVR22.29	+82.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 THB10.61	$0.31 MVR4.70	-8.5%
Average			+52.9%

Bangkok vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.4% more for groceries

	Bangkok	Maldives
Bread 1 loaf	$1.44 THB45.81	$1.59 MVR24.49	+10.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.50 THB270.59	$4.58 MVR70.46	-46.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.23 THB230.01	$6.95 MVR107.00	-3.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.28 THB72.68	$1.67 MVR25.67	-27.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.38 THB43.91	$2.82 MVR43.37	+104.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.59 THB50.61	$1.84 MVR28.31	+15.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 THB25.98	$1.73 MVR26.63	+111.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.02 THB32.56	$1.96 MVR30.25	+91.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.85 THB27.13	$1.48 MVR22.83	+73.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 THB22.92	$0.70 MVR10.77	-2.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.65 THB20.65	$0.55 MVR8.45	-15.5%
Average			+28.4%

Bangkok vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.8% less for transportation

	Bangkok	Maldives
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.69 THB149.30	$3.54 MVR54.53	-24.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.21 THB1,183.78	$28.91 MVR445.28	-22.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,206.42 THB1,183,775.25	$32,679.74 MVR503,267.97	-12.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.63 THB369.93	$17.65 MVR271.76	+51.8%
Average			-1.8%

Bangkok vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Bangkok	Maldives
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.91 THB537.90	$61.82 MVR952.02	+265.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$675.06 THB21,477.90	$1,136.53 MVR17,502.54	+68.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$321.97 THB10,243.81	$731.21 MVR11,260.62	+127.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.69 THB2,185.37	$93.30 MVR1,436.78	+35.8%
Average			+124.2%

Bangkok vs. Maldives - Cost of housing

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pay 73.0% less for childcare

	Bangkok	Maldives
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$609.37 THB19,388.11	$164.38 MVR2,531.44	-73.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,346.39 THB424,634.53	$3,587.42 MVR55,246.24	-73.1%
Average			-73.0%

Bangkok vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare

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pay 72.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Bangkok	Maldives
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.79 THB88.78	$4.74 MVR72.97	+69.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.54 THB80.83	$3.31 MVR50.96	+30.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 THB139.83	$13.07 MVR201.31	+197.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.03 THB1,623.73	$72.98 MVR1,123.97	+43.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.06 THB256.48	$9.80 MVR150.98	+21.6%
Average			+72.4%

Bangkok vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.6% less for clothing

	Bangkok	Maldives
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.81 THB1,870.97	$43.03 MVR662.64	-26.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.03 THB1,210.07	$56.86 MVR875.69	+49.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.24 THB3,316.45	$90.20 MVR1,389.02	-13.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.47 THB2,910.11	$51.74 MVR796.84	-43.4%
Average			-8.6%

Bangkok vs. Maldives - 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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