Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. China Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 30.5% cheaper than China overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.7% less in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 0.7% more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 22.9% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 24.5% less in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 95.4% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.0% less in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 47.7% less in Sri Lanka

Expenses including childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, and restaurants are lower in Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka vs. China Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of China, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7% less for restaurants

	China	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.02 CN¥20.13	$2.19 LKR727.46	-27.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.16 CN¥34.43	$6.20 LKR2,055.94	+20.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 CN¥3.38	$0.82 LKR271.37	+61.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 CN¥1.97	$0.31 LKR101.81	+4.1%
Average			-2.7%

China vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.7% more for groceries

	China	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$1.66 CN¥11.06	$0.50 LKR165.19	-70.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.71 CN¥44.77	$5.10 LKR1,692.50	-24.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.65 CN¥44.41	$5.00 LKR1,659.43	-24.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.57 CN¥10.45	$1.59 LKR526.45	+1.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.52 CN¥10.11	$1.92 LKR638.73	+27.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.83 CN¥5.54	$2.39 LKR791.66	+187.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 CN¥3.91	$0.33 LKR111.13	-42.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.67 CN¥4.45	$1.65 LKR547.05	+147.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 CN¥3.89	$0.59 LKR195.73	+1.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 CN¥2.18	$0.45 LKR150.42	+38.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 CN¥2.67	$0.34 LKR113.34	-14.5%
Average			+0.7%

China vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.9% less for transportation

	China	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.77 CN¥31.84	$4.79 LKR1,588.88	+0.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.77 CN¥138.64	$4.92 LKR1,631.03	-76.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,838.53 CN¥126K	$29,619.96 LKR10M	+57.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.24 CN¥28.32	$2.96 LKR980.83	-30.3%
Average			-22.9%

China vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 24.5% less for housing

	China	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.27 CN¥75.23	$16.30 LKR5,409.49	+44.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$336.09 CN¥2,243.10	$251.30 LKR83,385.03	-25.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.64 CN¥1,419.17	$143.93 LKR47,757.50	-32.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$42.92 CN¥286.42	$35.77 LKR11,869.22	-16.7%
Average			-24.5%

China vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 95.4% less for childcare

	China	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$500.54 CN¥3,340.58	$28.08 LKR9,318.57	-94.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,908.16 CN¥126K	$711.79 LKR236K	-96.2%
Average			-95.4%

China vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.0% less for entertainment and sports

	China	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.50	$2.16 LKR715.49	+91.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.84 CN¥18.95	$2.16 LKR715.15	-24.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.71 CN¥24.73	$9.91 LKR3,289.50	+167.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.75 CN¥278.66	$9.67 LKR3,208.34	-76.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.28 CN¥41.89	$3.64 LKR1,208.49	-42.0%
Average			-28.0%

China vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 47.7% less for clothing

	China	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.40 CN¥309.65	$21.76 LKR7,220.85	-53.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.97 CN¥226.72	$13.15 LKR4,362.60	-61.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$73.79 CN¥492.48	$71.61 LKR23,760.27	-3.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 CN¥526.77	$33.60 LKR11,149.61	-57.4%
Average			-47.7%

China vs. Sri Lanka - 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: China vs. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sri Lanka?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 63.9% less money in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

China is about 146 times bigger than Sri Lanka.

Moving from China to Sri Lanka · UN DESA 2020

2,481 people born in China live in Sri Lanka.

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