Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kota Kinabalu vs. Canberra Cost of Living Summary

Kota Kinabalu is 51.7% cheaper than Canberra.

Restaurants: pay 71.8% less in Kota Kinabalu
Groceries: pay 11.6% less in Kota Kinabalu
Transportation: pay 51.7% less in Kota Kinabalu
Housing: pay 68.2% less in Kota Kinabalu
Childcare: pay 76.8% less in Kota Kinabalu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 51.9% less in Kota Kinabalu
Clothing: pay 29.6% less in Kota Kinabalu

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, and clothing are lower in Kota Kinabalu.

Kota Kinabalu vs. Canberra Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kota Kinabalu instead of Canberra, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 71.8% less for restaurants

	Canberra	Kota Kinabalu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.34 A$24.61	$3.55 MYR14.61	-78.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.81 A$14.76	$4.74 MYR19.48	-51.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.59 A$3.90	$0.67 MYR2.77	-74.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 A$3.37	$0.38 MYR1.56	-83.1%
Average			-71.8%

Canberra vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.6% less for groceries

	Canberra	Kota Kinabalu
Bread 1 loaf	$2.71 A$4.07	$1.15 MYR4.71	-57.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.99 A$7.51	$13.03 MYR53.58	+161.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 A$8.27	$6.50 MYR26.73	+18.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.31 A$6.50	$2.54 MYR10.42	-41.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.17 A$6.28	$1.85 MYR7.61	-55.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.23	$1.24 MYR5.08	-16.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.35 A$2.03	$0.56 MYR2.28	-58.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 A$2.01	$1.77 MYR7.29	+32.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.86 A$2.80	$0.86 MYR3.54	-53.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 A$1.52	$0.68 MYR2.80	-32.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.04 A$1.57	$0.79 MYR3.24	-24.3%
Average			-11.6%

Canberra vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of groceries

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pay 51.7% less for transportation

	Canberra	Kota Kinabalu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.42 A$6.65	$1.84 MYR7.56	-58.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$122.90 A$185.04	$41.21 MYR169.42	-66.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,041.09 A$43,723.43	$28,436.02 MYR116,900.47	-2.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.93 A$28.49	$3.79 MYR15.59	-80.0%
Average			-51.7%

Canberra vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.2% less for housing

	Canberra	Kota Kinabalu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.97 A$78.25	$33.00 MYR135.65	-36.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,554.45 A$2,340.33	$379.15 MYR1,558.67	-75.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,160.39 A$1,747.05	$165.88 MYR681.92	-85.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$159.03 A$239.43	$39.62 MYR162.89	-75.1%
Average			-68.2%

Canberra vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of housing

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pay 76.8% less for childcare

	Canberra	Kota Kinabalu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,754.20 A$2,641.08	$130.33 MYR535.79	-92.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,323.22 A$20,059.06	$5,213.27 MYR21,431.75	-60.9%
Average			-76.8%

Canberra vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of childcare

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pay 51.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Canberra	Kota Kinabalu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.54 A$9.84	$2.37 MYR9.74	-63.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 A$5.13	$2.65 MYR10.88	-22.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$31.05 A$46.75	$4.15 MYR17.05	-86.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.70 A$88.37	$43.44 MYR178.60	-26.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.07 A$19.69	$5.09 MYR20.94	-61.0%
Average			-51.9%

Canberra vs. Kota Kinabalu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.6% less for clothing

	Canberra	Kota Kinabalu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.40 A$104.48	$59.77 MYR245.73	-13.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$57.75 A$86.94	$22.90 MYR94.14	-60.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$94.06 A$141.61	$71.09 MYR292.25	-24.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$118.40 A$178.26	$94.79 MYR389.67	-19.9%
Average			-29.6%

Canberra vs. Kota Kinabalu - 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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