Cost of living comparison

compared to

Manila vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Manila is 4.1 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 12.8% more in Manila
Groceries: pay 42.5% more in Manila
Transportation: pay 2.6% less in Manila
Housing: pay 76.5% more in Manila
Childcare: pay 20.5 times more in Manila
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.4% more in Manila
Clothing: pay 25.3% more in Manila

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

Manila vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 12.8% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Manila
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.40 LKR1,004.51	$5.12 ₱293.20	+50.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.48 LKR2,209.92	$4.26 ₱244.33	-43.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 LKR218.48	$0.87 ₱50.04	+18.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 LKR115.52	$0.49 ₱28.16	+25.7%
Average			+12.8%

Colombo vs. Manila - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.5% more for groceries

	Colombo	Manila
Bread 1 loaf	$0.57 LKR168.39	$1.35 ₱77.49	+137.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.94 LKR2,050.34	$5.30 ₱303.99	-23.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 LKR1,933.18	$6.79 ₱389.37	+3.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.22 LKR655.51	$2.08 ₱119.14	-6.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 LKR703.81	$2.42 ₱138.67	+1.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.28 LKR968.53	$1.52 ₱87.22	-53.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR150.83	$0.80 ₱46.08	+57.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.65 LKR782.01	$1.52 ₱87.24	-42.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 LKR156.54	$0.98 ₱55.99	+84.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 LKR150.29	$1.20 ₱68.84	+136.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 LKR161.31	$1.48 ₱85.12	+172.1%
Average			+42.5%

Colombo vs. Manila - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.6% less for transportation

	Colombo	Manila
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.84 LKR1,429.48	$4.14 ₱237.37	-14.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.80 LKR2,009.02	$9.93 ₱569.09	+46.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,303.89 LKR10,436,845.97	$25,575.45 ₱1,465,984.58	-27.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.13 LKR924.15	$2.67 ₱152.95	-14.6%
Average			-2.6%

Colombo vs. Manila - Cost of transportation

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pay 76.5% more for housing

	Colombo	Manila
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.40 LKR4,847.95	$28.80 ₱1,651.10	+75.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$297.60 LKR87,978.23	$468.88 ₱26,876.34	+57.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$180.09 LKR53,238.86	$234.44 ₱13,438.19	+30.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.85 LKR12,962.28	$106.33 ₱6,094.83	+142.5%
Average			+76.5%

Colombo vs. Manila - Cost of housing

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pay 20.5 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Manila
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.60 LKR8,454.62	$482.52 ₱27,658.24	+1587.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$586.98 LKR173,528.89	$14,127.39 ₱809,781.96	+2306.8%
Average			+1947.0%

Colombo vs. Manila - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Manila
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.04 LKR602.71	$1.36 ₱78.19	-33.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 LKR765.85	$2.70 ₱154.59	+4.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.34 LKR2,762.40	$3.07 ₱175.92	-67.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.89 LKR4,104.96	$40.61 ₱2,327.81	+192.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.40 LKR1,004.51	$7.67 ₱439.80	+125.8%
Average			+44.4%

Colombo vs. Manila - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.3% more for clothing

	Colombo	Manila
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$29.69 LKR8,777.40	$33.31 ₱1,909.46	+12.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.31 LKR6,596.27	$26.60 ₱1,524.53	+19.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.77 LKR20,330.38	$74.03 ₱4,243.13	+7.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.51 LKR11,088.23	$60.89 ₱3,490.30	+62.3%
Average			+25.3%

Colombo vs. Manila - 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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