Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Taiwan

Taipei vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Taipei is 86.7% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 11.6% more in Taipei
Groceries: pay 99.2% more in Taipei
Transportation: pay 47.9% more in Taipei
Housing: pay 70.5% more in Taipei
Childcare: pay 15.6 times more in Taipei
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.9% more in Taipei
Clothing: pay 2.2 times more in Taipei

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

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Taipei vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 11.6% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Taipei
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,264.40	$4.71 NT$150.49	+23.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,500.21	$5.65 NT$180.59	-25.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.34	$0.92 NT$29.35	+30.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR86.91	$0.65 NT$20.86	+148.4%
Average			+11.6%

Colombo vs. Taipei - Cost of restaurants

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pay 99.2% more for groceries

	Colombo	Taipei
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.81	$2.02 NT$64.65	+268.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,279.33	$9.85 NT$314.68	+42.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,994.36	$11.54 NT$368.90	+91.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.27	$2.72 NT$87.00	+66.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR730.38	$4.45 NT$142.21	+101.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,013.41	$2.23 NT$71.26	-27.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.69	$1.51 NT$48.15	+306.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.23	$1.38 NT$44.23	-31.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.25	$2.02 NT$64.54	+256.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.71	$1.25 NT$39.84	+173.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.71	$1.04 NT$33.27	+195.1%
Average			+99.2%

Colombo vs. Taipei - Cost of groceries

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pay 47.9% more for transportation

	Colombo	Taipei
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,699.63	$3.94 NT$126.01	-23.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,379.16	$37.67 NT$1,203.90	+423.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$33,523.97 NT$1M	-9.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,090.09	$8.95 NT$285.93	+171.5%
Average			+47.9%

Colombo vs. Taipei - Cost of transportation

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pay 70.5% more for housing

	Colombo	Taipei
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,876.94	$27.40 NT$875.71	+31.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$1,012.31 NT$32,354.87	+71.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,485.93	$482.92 NT$15,434.64	+78.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,611.71	$66.27 NT$2,118.10	+61.1%
Average			+70.5%

Colombo vs. Taipei - Cost of housing

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pay 15.6 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Taipei
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,501.04	$662.67 NT$21,179.76	+1654.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$16,675.66 NT$533K	+1279.3%
Average			+1455.4%

Colombo vs. Taipei - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Taipei
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.06	$2.83 NT$90.29	+28.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR831.90	$3.42 NT$109.45	+36.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,400.28	$3.92 NT$125.41	-61.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,630.02	$41.15 NT$1,315.12	+194.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,500.13	$9.73 NT$311.01	+114.6%
Average			+60.9%

Colombo vs. Taipei - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.2 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Taipei
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,000.50	$63.18 NT$2,019.38	+248.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,500.46	$39.99 NT$1,277.99	+140.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,168.85	$84.98 NT$2,715.95	+7.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,819.33	$105.09 NT$3,358.66	+151.6%
Average			+118.2%

Colombo vs. Taipei - 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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