Cost of living comparison

compared to

London vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

London is 13.9 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 4.3 times more in London
Groceries: pay 61.2% more in London
Transportation: pay 13.0 times more in London
Housing: pay 7.4 times more in London
Childcare: pay 64.6 times more in London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.5 times more in London
Clothing: pay 2.7 times more in London

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

London vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 4.3 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.40 LKR1,004.51	$25.83 £19.99	+660.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.48 LKR2,209.92	$10.33 £8.00	+38.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 LKR218.48	$2.46 £1.90	+232.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 LKR115.52	$1.85 £1.43	+373.5%
Average			+326.1%

Colombo vs. London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 61.2% more for groceries

	Colombo	London
Bread 1 loaf	$0.57 LKR168.39	$2.07 £1.60	+263.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.94 LKR2,050.34	$5.65 £4.37	-18.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 LKR1,933.18	$6.31 £4.89	-3.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.22 LKR655.51	$4.45 £3.44	+100.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 LKR703.81	$4.26 £3.30	+78.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.28 LKR968.53	$1.56 £1.21	-52.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR150.83	$0.75 £0.58	+47.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.65 LKR782.01	$1.44 £1.11	-45.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 LKR156.54	$1.79 £1.39	+238.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR150.29	$0.69 £0.53	+35.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR161.31	$0.70 £0.54	+28.6%
Average			+61.2%

Colombo vs. London - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.0 times more for transportation

	Colombo	London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84 LKR1,429.48	$7.39 £5.72	+52.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.80 LKR2,009.02	$258.31 £199.94	+3701.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,303.89 LKR10,436,845.97	$36,531.14 £28,277.07	+3.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.13 LKR924.15	$35.26 £27.29	+1027.9%
Average			+1196.3%

Colombo vs. London - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.4 times more for housing

	Colombo	London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.40 LKR4,847.95	$41.63 £32.22	+153.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$297.60 LKR87,978.23	$2,834.46 £2,194.03	+852.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$180.09 LKR53,238.86	$2,063.73 £1,597.44	+1046.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.85 LKR12,962.28	$263.90 £204.27	+501.9%
Average			+638.6%

Colombo vs. London - Cost of housing

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pay 64.6 times more for childcare

	Colombo	London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.60 LKR8,454.62	$2,333.60 £1,806.33	+8059.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$586.98 LKR173,528.89	$27,892.30 £21,590.15	+4651.8%
Average			+6355.8%

Colombo vs. London - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.04 LKR602.71	$8.27 £6.40	+305.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 LKR765.85	$4.80 £3.72	+85.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.34 LKR2,762.40	$19.76 £15.30	+111.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.89 LKR4,104.96	$65.66 £50.83	+372.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.40 LKR1,004.51	$16.14 £12.50	+375.1%
Average			+250.1%

Colombo vs. London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.7 times more for clothing

	Colombo	London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.69 LKR8,777.40	$96.94 £75.04	+226.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.31 LKR6,596.27	$50.55 £39.13	+126.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.77 LKR20,330.38	$114.87 £88.92	+67.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.51 LKR11,088.23	$135.36 £104.78	+260.9%
Average			+170.2%

Colombo vs. London - 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: March 2025

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