Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar vs. Colombo Cost of Living Summary

Ulaanbaatar is 41.5% more expensive than Colombo.

Restaurants: pay 17.6% more in Ulaanbaatar
Groceries: pay 16.0% more in Ulaanbaatar
Transportation: pay 9.7% more in Ulaanbaatar
Housing: pay 22.8% more in Ulaanbaatar
Childcare: pay 12.2 times more in Ulaanbaatar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.9% more in Ulaanbaatar
Clothing: pay 2.9 times more in Ulaanbaatar

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

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Ulaanbaatar vs. Colombo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.6% more for restaurants

	Colombo	Ulaanbaatar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.82 LKR1,273.30	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	+45.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.56 LKR2,517.80	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	-26.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 LKR233.97	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	+22.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 LKR87.52	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	+124.8%
Average			+17.6%

Colombo vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 16.0% more for groceries

	Colombo	Ulaanbaatar
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 LKR183.09	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	+81.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.89 LKR2,295.37	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	-10.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.03 LKR2,008.39	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	-8.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 LKR545.08	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	+28.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.21 LKR735.52	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	+0.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.06 LKR1,020.54	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	-54.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 LKR123.56	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	+194.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.03 LKR676.96	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	-16.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 LKR188.56	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	+142.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 LKR151.77	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	-27.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 LKR117.53	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	+36.3%
Average			+16.0%

Colombo vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.7% more for transportation

	Colombo	Ulaanbaatar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 LKR1,711.59	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	-15.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.19 LKR2,395.90	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	+131.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,024.95 LKR12M	$26,896.36 MNT97M	-27.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.29 LKR1,097.76	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	+47.6%
Average			+9.7%

Colombo vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.8% more for housing

	Colombo	Ulaanbaatar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.78 LKR6,925.33	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	-34.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$589.61 LKR196K	$569.30 MNT2M	-3.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$270.44 LKR90,115.57	$444.50 MNT2M	+64.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.14 LKR13,707.49	$54.38 MNT196K	+32.2%
Average			+22.8%

Colombo vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of housing

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pay 12.2 times more for childcare

	Colombo	Ulaanbaatar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$37.78 LKR12,589.00	$817.79 MNT3M	+2064.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,208.98 LKR403K	$8,262.71 MNT30M	+583.4%
Average			+1116.3%

Colombo vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of childcare

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pay 21.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Colombo	Ulaanbaatar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.21 LKR735.20	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	+7.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.51 LKR837.76	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	-3.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.28 LKR3,424.21	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	-83.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$13.99 LKR4,662.59	$67.73 MNT244K	+384.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.53 LKR1,510.68	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	-8.1%
Average			+21.9%

Colombo vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.9 times more for clothing

	Colombo	Ulaanbaatar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.13 LKR6,042.72	$81.73 MNT294K	+350.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.62 LKR5,539.16	$45.38 MNT163K	+173.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$79.09 LKR26,352.98	$102.93 MNT370K	+30.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$41.76 LKR13,916.57	$187.55 MNT675K	+349.1%
Average			+191.2%

Colombo vs. Ulaanbaatar - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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