Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Nicaragua

Managua vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Managua is 18.5% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 74.7% more in Managua
Groceries: pay 31.6% more in Managua
Transportation: pay 4.3% less in Managua
Housing: pay 27.1% less in Managua
Childcare: pay 5.6 times more in Managua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.7% more in Managua
Clothing: pay 2.9 times more in Managua

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

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Managua vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 74.7% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Managua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$10.00 NIO368.55	+161.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$7.61 NIO280.46	+0.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$0.88 NIO32.54	+25.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.71 NIO26.22	+170.8%
Average			+74.7%

Colombo vs. Managua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.6% more for groceries

	Colombo	Managua
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$2.37 NIO87.46	+331.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$5.80 NIO213.64	-15.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$4.68 NIO172.61	-22.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$2.37 NIO87.18	+44.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$2.87 NIO105.79	+30.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$1.82 NIO67.08	-40.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$0.27 NIO10.03	-26.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$0.82 NIO30.09	-59.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$1.11 NIO41.05	+96.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$1.79 NIO65.90	+292.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$1.01 NIO37.13	+185.7%
Average			+31.6%

Colombo vs. Managua - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.3% less for transportation

	Colombo	Managua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$5.06 NIO186.38	-1.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$6.01 NIO221.41	-16.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$22,973.64 NIO847K	-38.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$14.69 NIO541.39	+345.9%
Average			-4.3%

Colombo vs. Managua - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.1% less for housing

	Colombo	Managua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$32.47 NIO1,196.57	+56.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$256.40 NIO9,449.50	-56.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$181.00 NIO6,670.67	-33.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$115.83 NIO4,268.74	+181.6%
Average			-27.1%

Colombo vs. Managua - Cost of housing

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pay 5.6 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Managua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$235.82 NIO8,690.94	+524.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$6,060.00 NIO223K	+401.2%
Average			+459.3%

Colombo vs. Managua - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Managua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$1.50 NIO55.28	-32.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$2.60 NIO95.82	+3.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$2.73 NIO100.51	-73.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$34.79 NIO1,282.16	+148.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$9.00 NIO331.69	+98.5%
Average			+21.7%

Colombo vs. Managua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.9 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Managua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$59.88 NIO2,206.90	+230.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$65.00 NIO2,395.54	+291.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$122.64 NIO4,519.99	+55.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$144.83 NIO5,337.49	+246.8%
Average			+188.7%

Colombo vs. Managua - 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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