Cost of living comparison
Chennai is 23.7% more expensive than Colombo.
If you lived in Chennai instead of Colombo, you would:
pay 7.1% less for restaurants
Colombo
|
Chennai
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$1.65
LKR490.07
|
$1.83
₹152.82
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.04
LKR1,493.55
|
$4.89
₹407.53
|
|
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$0.51
LKR151.60
|
$0.44
₹36.70
|
|
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.25
LKR72.86
|
$0.19
₹15.92
|
|
pay 48.8% less for groceries
Colombo
|
Chennai
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$0.74
LKR220.12
|
$0.49
₹41.23
|
|
Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.34
LKR1,286.27
|
$2.88
₹240.51
|
|
Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.48
LKR1,624.50
|
$2.33
₹194.12
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.19
LKR650.61
|
$0.86
₹72.06
|
|
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.25
LKR666.27
|
$1.42
₹118.13
|
|
Apples (1 lb) |
$2.49
LKR737.86
|
$1.09
₹91.00
|
|
Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.42
LKR123.91
|
$0.36
₹29.99
|
|
Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.10
LKR622.09
|
$0.63
₹52.83
|
|
Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.70
LKR208.96
|
$0.21
₹17.41
|
|
Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.55
LKR163.90
|
$0.23
₹19.33
|
|
Onions (1 lb) |
$0.38
LKR112.21
|
$0.20
₹16.88
|
|
pay 26.1% more for transportation
Colombo
|
Chennai
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.24
LKR1,553.93
|
$4.87
₹405.92
|
|
Monthly public transit pass |
$4.72
LKR1,400.20
|
$12.22
₹1,018.81
|
|
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$29,917.63
LKR8,867,961.27
|
$12,218.89
₹1,018,813.45
|
|
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$2.83
LKR840.12
|
$3.18
₹264.89
|
|
pay 18.6% less for housing
Colombo
|
Chennai
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$11.95
LKR3,543.12
|
$9.48
₹790.04
|
|
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$341.69
LKR101,281.49
|
$183.52
₹15,301.80
|
|
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$142.52
LKR42,245.02
|
$113.19
₹9,437.73
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$25.52
LKR7,565.33
|
$28.85
₹2,405.71
|
|
pay 2.8 times more for childcare
Colombo
|
Chennai
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$26.09
LKR7,734.46
|
$73.66
₹6,141.99
|
|
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$520.92
LKR154,406.86
|
$1,487.83
₹124,055.52
|
|
pay 6.0% more for entertainment and sports
Colombo
|
Chennai
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$1.57
LKR466.73
|
$2.20
₹183.39
|
|
Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.85
LKR547.06
|
$1.75
₹145.92
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.30
LKR1,866.94
|
$4.40
₹366.77
|
|
Monthly membership at local gym |
$12.09
LKR3,583.16
|
$17.87
₹1,490.31
|
|
Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$3.15
LKR933.47
|
$2.44
₹203.76
|
|
pay 24.3% more for clothing
Colombo
|
Chennai
|
||
---|---|---|---|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$24.08
LKR7,138.30
|
$26.71
₹2,227.50
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$16.10
LKR4,773.42
|
$29.86
₹2,489.73
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$54.57
LKR16,174.78
|
$45.13
₹3,762.53
|
|
Men's business shoes (leather) |
$29.14
LKR8,637.51
|
$34.41
₹2,868.76
|
|
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