Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Ho Chi Minh City is 14.0% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 38.4% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Groceries: pay 4.8% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Transportation: pay 1.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Housing: pay 10.5% more in Ho Chi Minh City
Childcare: pay 15.0 times more in Ho Chi Minh City
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.0% less in Ho Chi Minh City
Clothing: pay 98.5% more in Ho Chi Minh City

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

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Ho Chi Minh City vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ho Chi Minh City instead of Colombo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.4% less for restaurants

	Colombo	Ho Chi Minh City
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$1.92 ₫49,832	-49.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$4.62 ₫120K	-38.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$0.54 ₫13,905	-23.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.33 ₫8,590	+26.3%
Average			-38.4%

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.8% less for groceries

	Colombo	Ho Chi Minh City
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$1.08 ₫27,843	+95.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$6.05 ₫157K	-12.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$6.13 ₫159K	+1.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$1.62 ₫42,008	-0.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$1.64 ₫42,570	-25.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$1.36 ₫35,261	-55.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$0.58 ₫14,953	+55.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$0.72 ₫18,715	-64.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$0.58 ₫14,918	+1.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$0.54 ₫14,104	+19.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$0.53 ₫13,662	+49.6%
Average			-4.8%

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.0% less for transportation

	Colombo	Ho Chi Minh City
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$3.55 ₫91,950	-30.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$11.55 ₫299K	+60.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$30,715.02 ₫795M	-17.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$5.80 ₫150K	+76.1%
Average			-1.0%

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.5% more for housing

	Colombo	Ho Chi Minh City
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$10.46 ₫271K	-49.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$585.86 ₫15M	-0.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$297.81 ₫8M	+10.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$79.24 ₫2M	+92.6%
Average			+10.5%

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of housing

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pay 15.0 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Ho Chi Minh City
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$438.36 ₫11M	+1060.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$23,561.82 ₫610M	+1848.9%
Average			+1403.8%

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Ho Chi Minh City
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$1.03 ₫26,762	-53.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$1.81 ₫46,978	-27.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$1.23 ₫31,892	-88.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$25.91 ₫671K	+85.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$3.46 ₫89,697	-23.6%
Average			-29.0%

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 98.5% more for clothing

	Colombo	Ho Chi Minh City
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$51.59 ₫1M	+184.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$34.61 ₫896K	+108.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$91.59 ₫2M	+15.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$94.62 ₫2M	+126.6%
Average			+98.5%

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City - 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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