Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

India

Chennai vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Chennai is 44.7% cheaper than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 45.5% less in Chennai
Groceries: pay 49.8% less in Chennai
Transportation: pay 21.2% less in Chennai
Housing: pay 62.5% less in Chennai
Childcare: pay 99.8% more in Chennai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.0% less in Chennai
Clothing: pay 23.1% less in Chennai

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

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Chennai vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.5% less for restaurants

	Colombo	Chennai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$2.07 ₹196.29	-45.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$4.13 ₹392.58	-45.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$0.34 ₹32.44	-51.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.16 ₹15.58	-37.6%
Average			-45.5%

Colombo vs. Chennai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.8% less for groceries

	Colombo	Chennai
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$0.52 ₹49.23	-5.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$2.98 ₹283.32	-56.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$2.19 ₹208.05	-63.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$0.85 ₹80.75	-48.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$1.43 ₹135.41	-35.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$1.27 ₹120.21	-58.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$0.35 ₹33.51	-4.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$0.64 ₹60.72	-68.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$0.20 ₹18.72	-65.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$0.20 ₹19.45	-55.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$0.18 ₹17.49	-47.8%
Average			-49.8%

Colombo vs. Chennai - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.2% less for transportation

	Colombo	Chennai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$4.16 ₹395.08	-19.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$10.34 ₹981.46	+43.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$15,503.14 ₹1M	-58.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$3.51 ₹333.70	+6.7%
Average			-21.2%

Colombo vs. Chennai - Cost of transportation

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pay 62.5% less for housing

	Colombo	Chennai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$7.70 ₹730.88	-63.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$176.39 ₹16,750.21	-70.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$100.40 ₹9,534.16	-62.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$28.82 ₹2,737.21	-29.9%
Average			-62.5%

Colombo vs. Chennai - Cost of housing

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pay 99.8% more for childcare

	Colombo	Chennai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$86.66 ₹8,229.14	+129.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$2,104.41 ₹200K	+74.1%
Average			+99.8%

Colombo vs. Chennai - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Chennai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$1.55 ₹147.22	-29.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$1.81 ₹171.76	-28.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$4.96 ₹471.10	-51.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$12.53 ₹1,190.02	-10.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$2.51 ₹238.00	-44.7%
Average			-32.0%

Colombo vs. Chennai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.1% less for clothing

	Colombo	Chennai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$20.04 ₹1,902.94	+10.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$16.63 ₹1,579.53	+0.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$35.14 ₹3,336.89	-55.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$29.71 ₹2,821.69	-28.9%
Average			-23.1%

Colombo vs. Chennai - 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

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