Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Bishkek Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 48.1% more expensive than Bishkek.

Restaurants: pay 15.6% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 77.7% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 65.5% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 73.7% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.1% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 13.5% less in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Bishkek Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 15.6% less for restaurants

	Bishkek	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.86 KGS600.00	$2.31 LAK49,962	-66.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.72 KGS500.00	$5.54 LAK119,908	-3.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 KGS60.00	$0.62 LAK13,417	-9.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 KGS31.09	$0.42 LAK8,993	+16.9%
Average			-15.6%

Bishkek vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 77.7% more for groceries

	Bishkek	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.49 KGS42.62	$1.17 LAK25,263	+139.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.06 KGS355.39	$13.94 LAK301,703	+243.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.57 KGS312.12	$7.32 LAK158,409	+105.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.72 KGS150.42	$1.81 LAK39,209	+5.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.18 KGS190.68	$2.99 LAK64,760	+37.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.49 KGS43.27	$0.90 LAK19,388	+81.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85 KGS74.62	$0.50 LAK10,827	-41.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.93 KGS81.41	$0.94 LAK20,320	+0.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 KGS62.37	$0.61 LAK13,144	-14.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 KGS22.54	$0.74 LAK16,015	+187.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 KGS19.17	$0.47 LAK10,072	+112.2%
Average			+77.7%

Bishkek vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Bishkek	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.11 KGS272.26	$5.18 LAK112,095	+66.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.66 KGS1,020.00	$50.18 LAK1,086,126	+330.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,735.85 KGS3,300,000.00	$28,736.24 LAK621,991,096	-23.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.20 KGS280.00	$10.86 LAK235,028	+239.1%
Average			+152.9%

Bishkek vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 65.5% more for housing

	Bishkek	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.91 KGS1,041.67	$11.39 LAK246,478	-4.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$506.26 KGS44,272.71	$866.78 LAK18,761,296	+71.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$375.78 KGS32,861.85	$784.74 LAK16,985,533	+108.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.63 KGS2,591.13	$55.21 LAK1,194,967	+86.3%
Average			+65.5%

Bishkek vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 73.7% more for childcare

	Bishkek	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$199.59 KGS17,454.55	$338.54 LAK7,327,607	+69.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,249.21 KGS459,043.75	$9,334.55 LAK202,044,727	+77.8%
Average			+73.7%

Bishkek vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Bishkek	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.37 KGS120.00	$1.50 LAK32,475	+9.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.13 KGS186.30	$1.73 LAK37,470	-18.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.83 KGS160.00	$1.96 LAK42,468	+7.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.97 KGS4,107.14	$50.52 LAK1,093,567	+7.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.80 KGS420.00	$3.56 LAK77,021	-25.9%
Average			-4.1%

Bishkek vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.5% less for clothing

	Bishkek	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$38.88 KGS3,400.00	$27.70 LAK599,542	-28.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.76 KGS3,476.92	$69.25 LAK1,498,854	+74.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.12 KGS8,405.88	$58.22 LAK1,260,106	-39.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.77 KGS9,250.00	$42.19 LAK913,170	-60.1%
Average			-13.5%

Bishkek vs. Vientiane - 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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