Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kigali vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Kigali is 2.6 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 9.4% more in Kigali
Groceries: pay 27.8% less in Kigali
Transportation: pay 2.8 times more in Kigali
Housing: pay 45.9% more in Kigali
Childcare: pay 10.2 times more in Kigali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4% less in Kigali
Clothing: pay 21.3% less in Kigali

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

Kigali vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.4% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Kigali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.13 LKR1,269.15	$3.45 RWF5,000	-16.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.26 LKR2,538.29	$6.89 RWF9,999	-16.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 LKR233.26	$0.86 RWF1,244	+13.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 LKR111.43	$0.57 RWF830	+57.8%
Average			+9.4%

Colombo vs. Kigali - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.8% less for groceries

	Colombo	Kigali
Bread 1 loaf	$0.52 LKR160.10	$1.05 RWF1,517	+100.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.78 LKR2,083.94	$2.26 RWF3,273	-66.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.70 LKR2,060.40	$2.64 RWF3,833	-60.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.95 LKR600.76	$1.65 RWF2,400	-15.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.05 LKR629.94	$2.10 RWF3,039	+2.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.42 LKR1,051.88	$1.15 RWF1,673	-66.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 LKR152.38	$0.37 RWF535	-25.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.69 LKR826.88	$0.70 RWF1,018	-73.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR168.43	$0.48 RWF695	-12.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR157.17	$0.23 RWF330	-55.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 LKR177.69	$0.39 RWF567	-32.4%
Average			-27.8%

Colombo vs. Kigali - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.8 times more for transportation

	Colombo	Kigali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	$4.42 RWF6,414	+7.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.61 LKR2,030.64	$29.30 RWF42,498	+343.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,432.11 LKR8,122,543.83	$26,543.61 RWF38,497,764	+0.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.04 LKR934.09	$14.48 RWF20,999	+376.3%
Average			+181.9%

Colombo vs. Kigali - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.9% more for housing

	Colombo	Kigali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.01 LKR4,306.40	$19.48 RWF28,248	+39.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$360.90 LKR110,903.96	$575.44 RWF834,601	+59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$177.21 LKR54,457.87	$322.51 RWF467,756	+82.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$38.78 LKR11,916.86	$39.98 RWF57,987	+3.1%
Average			+45.9%

Colombo vs. Kigali - Cost of housing

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pay 10.2 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Kigali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$33.87 LKR10,407.01	$166.62 RWF241,653	+392.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$505.51 LKR155,343.65	$7,842.43 RWF11,374,339	+1451.4%
Average			+921.7%

Colombo vs. Kigali - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Kigali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 LKR710.72	$1.03 RWF1,500	-55.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.67 LKR820.10	$2.31 RWF3,355	-13.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.24 LKR3,147.49	$1.72 RWF2,500	-83.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.33 LKR4,097.53	$31.41 RWF45,553	+135.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.30 LKR1,015.32	$3.45 RWF5,000	+4.3%
Average			-2.4%

Colombo vs. Kigali - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.3% less for clothing

	Colombo	Kigali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.56 LKR8,162.73	$19.19 RWF27,832	-27.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$17.76 LKR5,457.33	$19.30 RWF27,998	+8.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.21 LKR20,653.71	$22.98 RWF33,331	-65.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$38.07 LKR11,700.33	$37.92 RWF54,997	-0.4%
Average			-21.3%

Colombo vs. Kigali - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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