Cost of living comparison

compared to

Laos vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 80.6% more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 66.5% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 22.0% less in Laos
Transportation: pay 60.1% more in Laos
Housing: pay 69.2% more in Laos
Childcare: pay 6.7 times more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.5% less in Laos
Clothing: pay 27.6% less in Laos

The cost of childcare, housing, and transportation in Laos are more expensive than in Cook Islands. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Laos. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Laos.

Laos vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 66.5% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.54 NZ$19.88	$2.08 LAK44,966	-82.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.93 NZ$13.67	$5.54 LAK119,908	-30.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 NZ$4.97	$0.76 LAK16,442	-73.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 NZ$4.31	$0.50 LAK10,718	-80.2%
Average			-66.5%

Cook Islands vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.0% less for groceries

	Cook Islands	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 NZ$5.36	$1.13 LAK24,563	-63.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 NZ$8.57	$13.26 LAK287,030	+166.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 NZ$12.70	$6.91 LAK149,595	-6.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.57 NZ$9.59	$2.11 LAK45,582	-62.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 NZ$5.86	$2.10 LAK45,369	-38.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 NZ$2.24	$0.76 LAK16,404	-41.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.80	$0.75 LAK16,237	-28.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.69	$0.97 LAK20,984	-38.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.75 NZ$4.73	$1.30 LAK28,220	-52.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.80	$0.70 LAK15,259	-32.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.42	$0.46 LAK9,907	-44.5%
Average			-22.0%

Cook Islands vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 60.1% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.56 NZ$11.31	$4.72 LAK102,223	-28.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$54.89 LAK1,188,021
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,538.70 NZ$19,880.61	$28,639.89 LAK619,905,563	+148.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$10.51 LAK227,430
Average			+60.1%

Cook Islands vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 69.2% more for housing

	Cook Islands	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$105.96 NZ$182.57	$9.16 LAK198,182	-91.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$305.77 NZ$526.84	$1,004.64 LAK21,745,269	+228.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$305.77 NZ$526.84	$817.42 LAK17,693,017	+167.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.72 NZ$142.53	$59.90 LAK1,296,616	-27.6%
Average			+69.2%

Cook Islands vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 6.7 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$296.67 LAK6,421,270
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,384.64 NZ$2,385.67	$9,267.93 LAK200,602,878	+569.3%
Average			+569.3%

Cook Islands vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.99 NZ$10.31	$1.42 LAK30,724	-76.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 NZ$6.54	$1.66 LAK35,847	-56.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.42 NZ$24.85	$1.98 LAK42,881	-86.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.04 NZ$41.42	$67.50 LAK1,461,034	+180.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.63 NZ$11.43	$3.02 LAK65,425	-54.4%
Average			-18.5%

Cook Islands vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.6% less for clothing

	Cook Islands	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.62 NZ$111.33	$50.20 LAK1,086,669	-22.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$65.21 LAK1,411,421
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$66.39 LAK1,436,936
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.96 NZ$122.26	$47.52 LAK1,028,648	-33.0%
Average			-27.6%

Cook Islands vs. Laos - 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: December 2025

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