Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Lebanon

Beirut vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Beirut is 2.1 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Beirut
Groceries: pay 20.4% more in Beirut
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Beirut
Housing: pay 97.5% more in Beirut
Childcare: pay 12.6 times more in Beirut
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Beirut
Clothing: pay 2.7 times more in Beirut

The cost of childcare, clothing, restaurants, transportation, entertainment and sports, and housing in Beirut are more expensive than in Colombo. Notably, childcare, clothing, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Beirut.

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Beirut vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	Beirut
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,269.46	$12.00 LBP1M	+214.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,510.21	$10.00 LBP894K	+32.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR233.27	$2.33 LBP208K	+231.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.26	$0.87 LBP77,996	+232.1%
Average			+134.6%

Colombo vs. Beirut - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.4% more for groceries

	Colombo	Beirut
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR182.54	$0.88 LBP78,506	+59.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,288.45	$5.54 LBP495K	-19.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR2,002.34	$7.42 LBP663K	+23.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR543.43	$3.57 LBP319K	+118.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR733.30	$4.81 LBP430K	+117.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,017.47	$1.39 LBP124K	-54.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR123.18	$0.76 LBP68,143	+105.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR674.92	$0.75 LBP66,845	-63.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.99	$0.68 LBP60,842	+20.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR151.31	$0.56 LBP50,093	+23.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR117.17	$0.71 LBP63,739	+102.1%
Average			+20.4%

Colombo vs. Beirut - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Colombo	Beirut
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,706.43	$4.04 LBP361K	-21.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,388.67	$77.50 LBP7M	+977.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$53,500.00 LBP5B	+44.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,094.45	$23.00 LBP2M	+598.1%
Average			+125.9%

Colombo vs. Beirut - Cost of transportation

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pay 97.5% more for housing

	Colombo	Beirut
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,904.45	$37.98 LBP3M	+82.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR196K	$943.80 LBP84M	+60.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,843.92	$496.60 LBP44M	+83.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,666.17	$177.50 LBP16M	+331.5%
Average			+97.5%

Colombo vs. Beirut - Cost of housing

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pay 12.6 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Beirut
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,551.05	$681.75 LBP61M	+1704.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR402K	$10,643.75 LBP952M	+780.4%
Average			+1160.4%

Colombo vs. Beirut - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Beirut
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR732.98	$5.00 LBP447K	+126.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR835.23	$4.54 LBP406K	+80.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,413.89	$3.00 LBP268K	-70.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,648.54	$85.00 LBP8M	+507.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,506.13	$10.00 LBP894K	+120.6%
Average			+124.2%

Colombo vs. Beirut - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Beirut
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,024.51	$67.62 LBP6M	+272.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,522.46	$49.29 LBP4M	+196.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,273.54	$138.89 LBP12M	+75.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,874.62	$120.00 LBP11M	+187.3%
Average			+173.3%

Colombo vs. Beirut - 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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