Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 2.2 times more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 45.5% more in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 76.1% more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 68.0% more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 23.2 times more in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.1 times more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 70.5% more in Tokyo

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

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Tokyo vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.5% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	$7.59 ¥1,200	+98.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	$5.06 ¥800	-33.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR232.56	$1.64 ¥259	+133.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.00	$0.89 ¥140	+237.2%
Average			+45.5%

Colombo vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 76.1% more for groceries

	Colombo	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR181.98	$1.71 ¥270	+211.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	$5.29 ¥836	-23.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	$5.75 ¥909	-4.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR541.78	$2.26 ¥358	+38.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR731.08	$3.08 ¥487	+39.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	$2.15 ¥340	-29.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR122.81	$1.07 ¥170	+189.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR672.87	$1.96 ¥309	-3.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR187.42	$2.39 ¥377	+322.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR150.85	$1.53 ¥241	+235.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR116.82	$1.46 ¥231	+314.2%
Average			+76.1%

Colombo vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 68.0% more for transportation

	Colombo	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	$4.08 ¥645	-20.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	$63.27 ¥9,997	+779.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$21,725.38 ¥3M	-41.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	$28.47 ¥4,499	+764.2%
Average			+68.0%

Colombo vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Colombo	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	$30.33 ¥4,793	+46.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR195K	$1,280.34 ¥202K	+117.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	$692.48 ¥109K	+156.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	$113.45 ¥17,926	+175.8%
Average			+135.7%

Colombo vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 23.2 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	$1,341.43 ¥212K	+3450.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR400K	$18,252.10 ¥3M	+1409.7%
Average			+2215.2%

Colombo vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR730.76	$3.80 ¥600	+72.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR832.69	$3.56 ¥563	+41.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	$3.92 ¥620	-61.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	$66.31 ¥10,478	+373.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	$12.65 ¥1,999	+179.1%
Average			+107.0%

Colombo vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 70.5% more for clothing

	Colombo	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	$55.50 ¥8,770	+206.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	$32.95 ¥5,207	+98.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	$65.04 ¥10,278	-17.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	$70.74 ¥11,178	+69.4%
Average			+70.5%

Colombo vs. Tokyo - 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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