Cost of living comparison

Benin

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Benin Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 35.0% more expensive than Benin overall.

Restaurants: pay 48.6% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 10.6% less in Laos
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Laos
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.7% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 34.0% more in Laos

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

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Laos vs. Benin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Benin, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 48.6% less for restaurants

	Benin	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.12 F CFA2,990	$2.23 LAK50,211	-56.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.39 F CFA5,481	$5.35 LAK121K	-43.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 F CFA598	$0.79 LAK17,779	-23.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 F CFA532	$0.46 LAK10,439	-49.1%
Average			-48.6%

Benin vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.6% less for groceries

	Benin	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.22 F CFA710	$1.14 LAK25,737	-6.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 F CFA2,741	$12.87 LAK290K	+174.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.42 F CFA6,665	$6.94 LAK156K	-39.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.73 F CFA1,595	$1.87 LAK42,101	-31.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.44 F CFA1,424	$2.81 LAK63,330	+15.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.86 F CFA1,086	$0.84 LAK18,975	-54.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 F CFA482	$0.52 LAK11,662	-37.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.59 F CFA347	$1.19 LAK26,832	+100.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 F CFA701	$0.69 LAK15,639	-42.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 F CFA339	$0.66 LAK14,918	+14.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.77 F CFA452	$0.49 LAK10,995	-37.0%
Average			-10.6%

Benin vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay about the same for transportation

	Benin	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.61 F CFA2,689	$5.01 LAK113K	+8.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$52.98 LAK1M
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$27,872.00 LAK628M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.29 F CFA7,176	$9.14 LAK206K	-25.7%

Benin vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Benin	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.37 F CFA28,237	$9.51 LAK214K	-80.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$179.24 F CFA105K	$885.68 LAK20M	+394.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$166.43 F CFA97,169	$631.74 LAK14M	+279.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.13 F CFA66,049	$65.79 LAK1M	-41.8%
Average			+174.5%

Benin vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Benin	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$130.87 F CFA76,406	$435.49 LAK10M	+232.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,547.83 F CFA3M	$9,982.68 LAK225M	+79.9%
Average			+144.7%

Benin vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Benin	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.85 F CFA498	$1.32 LAK29,812	+55.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.12 F CFA2,990	$1.66 LAK37,366	-67.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.41 F CFA1,993	$1.78 LAK40,169	-47.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.37 F CFA28,237	$64.54 LAK1M	+33.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.54 F CFA4,983	$3.32 LAK74,750	-61.1%
Average			-30.7%

Benin vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.0% more for clothing

	Benin	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.61 F CFA14,949	$48.46 LAK1M	+89.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$62.95 LAK1M
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.14 F CFA19,932	$64.36 LAK1M	+88.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$68.28 F CFA39,864	$46.02 LAK1M	-32.6%
Average			+34.0%

Benin vs. Laos - 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

Compare further: Benin vs. Laos

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Laos?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Be 93.0% more likely to have internet access in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Benin is about 2.1 times smaller than Laos.

Moving from Benin to Laos · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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