Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Serbia

Belgrade vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Belgrade is 86.1% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in Belgrade
Groceries: pay 4.4% more in Belgrade
Transportation: pay 27.0% more in Belgrade
Housing: pay 92.6% more in Belgrade
Childcare: pay 10.2 times more in Belgrade
Entertainment and Sports: pay 64.6% more in Belgrade
Clothing: pay 3.1 times more in Belgrade

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

Planning a move to Serbia? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Belgrade vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	Belgrade
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$13.25 RSD1,385	+246.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$13.35 RSD1,395	+76.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$2.79 RSD292	+297.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$2.31 RSD241	+778.8%
Average			+204.7%

Colombo vs. Belgrade - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.4% more for groceries

	Colombo	Belgrade
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$1.15 RSD120	+109.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$5.65 RSD590	-18.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$5.41 RSD565	-10.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$2.75 RSD287	+67.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$3.08 RSD322	+39.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$0.74 RSD77	-75.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$0.83 RSD86	+122.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$0.85 RSD88	-58.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$1.39 RSD145	+145.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$0.41 RSD43	-9.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$0.32 RSD33	-10.5%
Average			+4.4%

Colombo vs. Belgrade - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.0% more for transportation

	Colombo	Belgrade
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$7.16 RSD748	+39.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$30,517.27 RSD3M	-17.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$11.06 RSD1,156	+235.7%
Average			+27.0%

Colombo vs. Belgrade - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 92.6% more for housing

	Colombo	Belgrade
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$35.64 RSD3,725	+71.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$821.08 RSD85,814	+39.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$553.04 RSD57,801	+104.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$166.93 RSD17,446	+305.8%
Average			+92.6%

Colombo vs. Belgrade - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.2 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Belgrade
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$425.54 RSD44,475	+1026.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$11,215.66 RSD1M	+827.7%
Average			+922.2%

Colombo vs. Belgrade - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 64.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Belgrade
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$3.72 RSD389	+68.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$3.12 RSD326	+24.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$4.67 RSD488	-54.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$41.23 RSD4,309	+194.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$8.58 RSD897	+89.3%
Average			+64.6%

Colombo vs. Belgrade - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.1 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Belgrade
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$110.61 RSD11,560	+509.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$46.78 RSD4,889	+181.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$117.03 RSD12,231	+48.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$154.95 RSD16,194	+271.0%
Average			+211.6%

Colombo vs. Belgrade - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Colombo vs. Belgrade

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Belgrade?

More cost comparisons

Colombo vs.

Athens

Colombo vs.

Rome

Colombo vs.

Dublin

Colombo vs.

Cairo

Colombo vs.

Toronto

Colombo vs.

Madrid

Colombo vs.

Moscow

Colombo vs.

Sydney

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Sri Lanka vs. Serbia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Sri Lanka and Serbia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Colombo

Add prices for Belgrade

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Belgrade or Colombo. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.