Cost of living comparison

Egypt

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Cairo Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 41.9% more expensive than Cairo.

Restaurants: pay 11.9% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 97.0% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 55.7% more in Colombo
Housing: pay 93.4% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 67.7% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.6% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 48.7% less in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Cairo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.9% more for restaurants

	Cairo	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.77 EGP255.20	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	-20.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.92 EGP316.45	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+27.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 EGP18.91	$0.70 LKR232.56	+98.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.15 EGP7.79	$0.26 LKR87.00	+80.2%
Average			+11.9%

Cairo vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 97.0% more for groceries

	Cairo	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.76 EGP40.74	$0.55 LKR181.98	-27.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.13 EGP114.06	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+222.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.57 EGP190.86	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+68.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.18 EGP63.29	$1.64 LKR541.78	+38.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.26 EGP120.71	$2.21 LKR731.08	-2.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.82 EGP43.68	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+274.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.35 EGP18.52	$0.37 LKR122.81	+7.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.26 EGP14.08	$2.03 LKR672.87	+671.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.24 EGP12.94	$0.57 LKR187.42	+133.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.18 EGP9.68	$0.46 LKR150.85	+151.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.20 EGP10.49	$0.35 LKR116.82	+79.7%
Average			+97.0%

Cairo vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.7% more for transportation

	Cairo	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.68 EGP89.66	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+206.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.59 EGP459.36	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-16.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,276.12 EGP2M	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+14.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$1.91 EGP102.08	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	+72.5%
Average			+55.7%

Cairo vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 93.4% more for housing

	Cairo	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.10 EGP753.78	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	+47.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$216.90 EGP11,593.41	$589.61 LKR195K	+171.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$191.78 EGP10,250.57	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+41.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$20.76 EGP1,109.77	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	+98.1%
Average			+93.4%

Cairo vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 67.7% less for childcare

	Cairo	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$123.08 EGP6,578.51	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-69.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,562.03 EGP190K	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-66.1%
Average			-67.7%

Cairo vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Cairo	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.48 EGP79.11	$2.21 LKR730.76	+49.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.78 EGP95.02	$2.51 LKR832.69	+41.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.01 EGP107.18	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+412.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.87 EGP1,596.30	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-53.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.77 EGP255.20	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	-5.0%
Average			+11.6%

Cairo vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 48.7% less for clothing

	Cairo	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$40.94 EGP2,188.35	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	-55.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.61 EGP2,705.13	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-67.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$115.71 EGP6,184.87	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	-31.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$59.84 EGP3,198.52	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	-30.2%
Average			-48.7%

Cairo 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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