Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Moldova

Chisinau vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Chisinau is 51.7% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Chisinau
Groceries: pay 14.7% less in Chisinau
Transportation: pay 23.3% more in Chisinau
Housing: pay 55.2% more in Chisinau
Childcare: pay 7.5 times more in Chisinau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.7% more in Chisinau
Clothing: pay 2.7 times more in Chisinau

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

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Chisinau vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	Chisinau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,269.46	$11.22 MDL200.58	+193.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,510.21	$8.70 MDL155.45	+15.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR233.27	$1.21 MDL21.60	+72.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.26	$0.89 MDL15.92	+239.0%
Average			+103.4%

Colombo vs. Chisinau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.7% less for groceries

	Colombo	Chisinau
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR182.54	$0.71 MDL12.71	+29.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,288.45	$4.89 MDL87.39	-29.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR2,002.34	$4.73 MDL84.61	-21.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR543.43	$2.79 MDL49.81	+70.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR733.30	$2.36 MDL42.13	+6.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,017.47	$0.44 MDL7.83	-85.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR123.18	$0.87 MDL15.60	+135.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR674.92	$0.94 MDL16.79	-53.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.99	$1.01 MDL17.97	+77.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR151.31	$0.31 MDL5.58	-31.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR117.17	$0.25 MDL4.40	-30.3%
Average			-14.7%

Colombo vs. Chisinau - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.3% more for transportation

	Colombo	Chisinau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,706.43	$6.44 MDL115.06	+25.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,388.67	$13.52 MDL241.70	+88.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$29,507.41 MDL528K	-20.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,094.45	$4.94 MDL88.26	+49.8%
Average			+23.3%

Colombo vs. Chisinau - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.2% more for housing

	Colombo	Chisinau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,904.45	$10.59 MDL189.39	-49.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR196K	$679.74 MDL12,152.24	+15.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,843.92	$435.34 MDL7,782.96	+61.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,666.17	$185.85 MDL3,322.64	+351.8%
Average			+55.2%

Colombo vs. Chisinau - Cost of housing

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pay 7.5 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Chisinau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,551.05	$434.06 MDL7,759.94	+1048.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR402K	$5,841.67 MDL104K	+383.2%
Average			+645.1%

Colombo vs. Chisinau - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Chisinau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR732.98	$2.24 MDL40.12	+1.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR835.23	$2.16 MDL38.67	-14.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,413.89	$3.42 MDL61.18	-66.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,648.54	$41.67 MDL745.01	+197.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,506.13	$8.41 MDL150.43	+85.6%
Average			+33.7%

Colombo vs. Chisinau - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Chisinau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,024.51	$79.80 MDL1,426.62	+340.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,522.46	$47.07 MDL841.43	+183.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,273.54	$114.14 MDL2,040.51	+44.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,874.62	$115.56 MDL2,065.97	+176.7%
Average			+165.6%

Colombo vs. Chisinau - 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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