Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Botswana

Gaborone vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Gaborone is 9.1% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 53.0% more in Gaborone
Groceries: pay 7.0% less in Gaborone
Transportation: pay 42.4% more in Gaborone
Housing: pay 20.6% less in Gaborone
Childcare: pay 2.6 times more in Gaborone
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.6% more in Gaborone
Clothing: pay 45.9% more in Gaborone

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

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Gaborone vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.0% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Gaborone
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$10.85 BWP148.87	+183.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$5.79 BWP79.40	-23.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$0.72 BWP9.92	+3.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.42 BWP5.71	+58.3%
Average			+53.0%

Colombo vs. Gaborone - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.0% less for groceries

	Colombo	Gaborone
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$0.88 BWP12.02	+59.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$3.16 BWP43.42	-54.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$5.47 BWP75.12	-9.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$2.47 BWP33.83	+50.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$2.11 BWP28.88	-4.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$0.75 BWP10.31	-75.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$0.64 BWP8.75	+72.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$0.90 BWP12.38	-55.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$0.74 BWP10.15	+30.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$0.58 BWP7.97	+27.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$0.53 BWP7.25	+49.9%
Average			-7.0%

Colombo vs. Gaborone - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.4% more for transportation

	Colombo	Gaborone
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$5.15 BWP70.71	+0.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$29.66 BWP406.91	+312.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$19,891.73 BWP273K	-46.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$20.87 BWP286.32	+533.4%
Average			+42.4%

Colombo vs. Gaborone - Cost of transportation

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pay 20.6% less for housing

	Colombo	Gaborone
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$42.10 BWP577.61	+102.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	-39.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	-18.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$45.63 BWP626.12	+10.9%
Average			-20.6%

Colombo vs. Gaborone - Cost of housing

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Gaborone
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	+236.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	+106.8%
Average			+163.8%

Colombo vs. Gaborone - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Gaborone
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$1.99 BWP27.29	-9.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$2.32 BWP31.83	-7.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$3.62 BWP49.62	-64.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$33.58 BWP460.78	+140.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$6.15 BWP84.36	+35.6%
Average			+16.6%

Colombo vs. Gaborone - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 45.9% more for clothing

	Colombo	Gaborone
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$47.53 BWP652.19	+162.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$16.75 BWP229.75	+0.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$72.33 BWP992.46	-8.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	+87.6%
Average			+45.9%

Colombo vs. Gaborone - 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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