Cost of living comparison

Burundi

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Bujumbura Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 2.5% cheaper than Bujumbura.

Restaurants: pay 2.0% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 14.9% less in Colombo
Transportation: pay 56.2% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 80.3% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 78.6% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.4% more in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Bujumbura Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Bujumbura, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0% less for restaurants

	Bujumbura	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.85 BIF11,548	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	-0.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.81 BIF11,426	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+98.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 BIF5,269	$0.70 LKR232.56	-60.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.35 BIF4,052	$0.26 LKR87.00	-80.6%
Average			-2.0%

Bujumbura vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.9% less for groceries

	Bujumbura	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$2.01 BIF6,014	$0.55 LKR181.98	-72.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.16 BIF12,480	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+65.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.80 BIF11,382	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+58.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.60 BIF10,797	$1.64 LKR541.78	-54.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.07 BIF15,195	$2.21 LKR731.08	-56.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.65 BIF7,939	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+15.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$0.37 LKR122.81
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.91 BIF2,728	$2.03 LKR672.87	+123.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 BIF2,264	$0.57 LKR187.42	-25.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.46 LKR150.85
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.35 LKR116.82
Average			-14.9%

Bujumbura vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 56.2% less for transportation

	Bujumbura	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.04 BIF15,118	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+1.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.09 BIF90,206	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-76.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$37,024.95 LKR12M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$31.70 BIF95,016	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-89.6%
Average			-56.2%

Bujumbura vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 80.3% more for housing

	Bujumbura	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$67.62 BIF203K	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	-69.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$433.02 BIF1M	$589.61 LKR195K	+36.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$90.78 BIF272K	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+197.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$41.14 LKR13,624.66
Average			+80.3%

Bujumbura vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 78.6% less for childcare

	Bujumbura	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$99.93 BIF300K	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-62.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,992.86 BIF30M	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-87.9%
Average			-78.6%

Bujumbura vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Bujumbura	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.17 BIF6,501	$2.21 LKR730.76	+1.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 BIF9,075	$2.51 LKR832.69	-17.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$10.28 LKR3,403.52
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.65 BIF79,875	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-47.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$1.67 BIF4,992	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	+172.2%
Average			+6.4%

Bujumbura vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Bujumbura	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$18.13 LKR6,006.21
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$16.62 LKR5,505.69
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$79.09 LKR26,193.74
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$41.76 LKR13,832.48

Bujumbura 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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