Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Tonga

Nuku'alofa vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Nuku'alofa is 47.7% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Nuku'alofa
Groceries: pay 55.9% more in Nuku'alofa
Transportation: pay 8.4% more in Nuku'alofa
Housing: pay 64.4% more in Nuku'alofa
Childcare: pay 7.2% less in Nuku'alofa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.4 times more in Nuku'alofa
Clothing: pay 37.2% less in Nuku'alofa

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

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Nuku'alofa vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nuku'alofa instead of Colombo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Colombo	Nuku'alofa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$8.31 TOP20.00	+117.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$10.38 TOP25.00	+37.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$2.84 TOP6.83	+304.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$2.46 TOP5.92	+835.7%
Average			+127.9%

Colombo vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 55.9% more for groceries

	Colombo	Nuku'alofa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$1.04 TOP2.50	+89.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$4.50 TOP10.83	-34.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$5.92 TOP14.26	-1.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$5.09 TOP12.27	+211.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$2.67 TOP6.43	+20.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$1.26 TOP3.02	-59.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$1.26 TOP3.02	+238.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$1.32 TOP3.18	-35.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$1.70 TOP4.08	+199.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$1.44 TOP3.48	+217.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$1.19 TOP2.87	+238.3%
Average			+55.9%

Colombo vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.4% more for transportation

	Colombo	Nuku'alofa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$5.50 TOP13.25	+7.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$41.53 TOP100.00	+477.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	-84.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$18.69 TOP45.00	+467.3%
Average			+8.4%

Colombo vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.4% more for housing

	Colombo	Nuku'alofa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$124.60 TOP300.00	+499.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	+5.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	??
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$142.92 TOP344.12	+247.4%
Average			+64.4%

Colombo vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of housing

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pay 7.2% less for childcare

	Colombo	Nuku'alofa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$157.82 TOP380.00	+317.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$249.19 TOP600.00	-79.4%
Average			-7.2%

Colombo vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Nuku'alofa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$3.32 TOP8.00	+50.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$2.91 TOP7.00	+15.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$10.18 TOP24.50	-1.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$31.15 TOP75.00	+122.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$41.53 TOP100.00	+816.1%
Average			+137.2%

Colombo vs. Nuku'alofa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.2% less for clothing

	Colombo	Nuku'alofa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$14.54 TOP35.00	-19.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$17.65 TOP42.50	+6.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$20.77 TOP50.00	-73.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$29.07 TOP70.00	-30.4%
Average			-37.2%

Colombo vs. Nuku'alofa - 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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