Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

Belarus

Minsk vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

Minsk is 15.3% cheaper than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 18.9% less in Minsk
Groceries: pay 3.0% less in Minsk
Transportation: pay 21.2% less in Minsk
Housing: pay 26.8% less in Minsk
Childcare: pay 94.6% more in Minsk
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.8% less in Minsk
Clothing: pay 15.3% less in Minsk

Expenses including housing, transportation, restaurants, entertainment and sports, clothing, and groceries are lower in Minsk. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Minsk.

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Minsk vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Minsk instead of Chisinau, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.9% less for restaurants

	Chisinau	Minsk
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL200.58	$9.78 BYN28.78	-12.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL155.45	$6.85 BYN20.14	-21.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.60	$0.96 BYN2.82	-20.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL15.92	$0.59 BYN1.74	-33.5%
Average			-18.9%

Chisinau vs. Minsk - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.0% less for groceries

	Chisinau	Minsk
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.71	$0.68 BYN2.00	-4.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.39	$3.79 BYN11.15	-22.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL84.61	$3.45 BYN10.16	-27.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL49.81	$1.64 BYN4.82	-41.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.13	$2.40 BYN7.07	+2.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.83	$0.70 BYN2.05	+58.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.60	$0.76 BYN2.25	-12.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.79	$0.97 BYN2.86	+3.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL17.97	$1.21 BYN3.57	+20.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.58	$0.29 BYN0.86	-6.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.40	$0.33 BYN0.98	+35.8%
Average			-3.0%

Chisinau vs. Minsk - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.2% less for transportation

	Chisinau	Minsk
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.06	$3.33 BYN9.80	-48.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL241.70	$18.59 BYN54.68	+37.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL528K	$21,193.80 BYN62,353.38	-28.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.26	$5.54 BYN16.31	+12.3%
Average			-21.2%

Chisinau vs. Minsk - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.8% less for housing

	Chisinau	Minsk
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL189.39	$13.39 BYN39.40	+26.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,152.24	$581.42 BYN1,710.56	-14.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,782.96	$380.44 BYN1,119.28	-12.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,322.64	$46.63 BYN137.17	-74.9%
Average			-26.8%

Chisinau vs. Minsk - Cost of housing

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pay 94.6% more for childcare

	Chisinau	Minsk
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,759.94	$396.70 BYN1,167.13	-8.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL104K	$24,214.29 BYN71,239.83	+314.5%
Average			+94.6%

Chisinau vs. Minsk - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	Minsk
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.12	$1.63 BYN4.80	-27.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.67	$2.32 BYN6.82	+7.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.18	$2.61 BYN7.67	-23.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL745.01	$37.06 BYN109.04	-11.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL150.43	$5.87 BYN17.27	-30.3%
Average			-17.8%

Chisinau vs. Minsk - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.3% less for clothing

	Chisinau	Minsk
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,426.62	$50.77 BYN149.37	-36.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL841.43	$44.17 BYN129.94	-6.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,040.51	$106.09 BYN312.14	-7.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,065.97	$106.95 BYN314.64	-7.5%
Average			-15.3%

Chisinau vs. Minsk - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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