Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Sierra Leone

Freetown vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Freetown is 29.0% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 5.5% more in Freetown
Groceries: pay 32.1% more in Freetown
Transportation: pay 34.3% less in Freetown
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Freetown
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.2% less in Freetown
Clothing: pay 44.9% less in Freetown

The cost of housing, groceries, and restaurants in Freetown are more expensive than in Colombo. Expenses including clothing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Freetown. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Freetown.

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Freetown vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.5% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Freetown
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$2.00 SLL41,939	-47.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$11.00 SLL231K	+45.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$1.83 SLL38,444	+161.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.85 SLL17,805	+223.3%
Average			+5.5%

Colombo vs. Freetown - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.1% more for groceries

	Colombo	Freetown
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$0.66 SLL13,755	+19.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$3.54 SLL74,319	-48.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$9.15 SLL192K	+51.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$1.81 SLL38,023	+10.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$4.54 SLL95,116	+105.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$3.18 SLL66,581	+3.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$1.36 SLL28,535	+267.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$0.32 SLL6,742	-84.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$2.27 SLL47,558	+300.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$0.91 SLL19,023	+99.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$0.74 SLL15,488	+109.4%
Average			+32.1%

Colombo vs. Freetown - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.3% less for transportation

	Colombo	Freetown
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$5.02 SLL105K	-2.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$12,000.00 SLL252M	-67.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$4.50 SLL94,363	+36.6%
Average			-34.3%

Colombo vs. Freetown - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Colombo	Freetown
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$55.00 SLL1M	+164.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$928.33 SLL19M	+57.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$1,261.67 SLL26M	+366.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$45.88 SLL962K	+11.5%
Average			+136.9%

Colombo vs. Freetown - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Colombo	Freetown
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	??

Colombo vs. Freetown - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Freetown
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$2.25 SLL47,181	+2.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$2.76 SLL57,878	+9.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$3.00 SLL62,908	-70.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	??
Average			-18.2%

Colombo vs. Freetown - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 44.9% less for clothing

	Colombo	Freetown
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$10.00 SLL210K	-44.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$20.00 SLL419K	-74.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$50.00 SLL1M	+19.7%
Average			-44.9%

Colombo vs. Freetown - 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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