Cost of living comparison

Cook Islands

compared to

Maldives

Maldives vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Maldives is 8.6% more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.8% less in Maldives
Groceries: pay 42.1% less in Maldives
Transportation: pay 23.7% more in Maldives
Housing: pay 71.6% more in Maldives
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.3% more in Maldives

The cost of housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Maldives are more expensive than in Cook Islands. Expenses including groceries and restaurants are lower in Maldives.

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Maldives vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.8% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Maldives
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.01 NZ$24.77	$6.00 MVR92.80	-57.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.60 NZ$9.91	$9.57 MVR147.98	+70.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 NZ$3.96	$1.63 MVR25.14	-27.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.24 NZ$3.96	$0.30 MVR4.59	-86.7%
Average			-34.8%

Cook Islands vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.1% less for groceries

	Cook Islands	Maldives
Bread 1 loaf	$2.80 NZ$4.95	$1.65 MVR25.58	-40.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.64 NZ$6.44	$3.48 MVR53.78	-4.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.60 NZ$18.75	$6.83 MVR105.59	-35.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.05 NZ$10.70	$1.87 MVR28.90	-69.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	??	$2.76 MVR42.75
Apples (1 lb)	??	$1.80 MVR27.85
Bananas (1 lb)	??	$1.39 MVR21.41
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.59 MVR24.57
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$1.22 MVR18.85
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.75 MVR11.64
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.69 MVR10.64
Average			-42.1%

Cook Islands vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.7% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	Maldives
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.38 NZ$11.29	$3.81 MVR58.84	-40.4%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$30.82 MVR476.54
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,204.09 NZ$19,812.72	$32,446.46 MVR502K	+189.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$17.52 MVR270.88
Average			+23.7%

Cook Islands vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation

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pay 71.6% more for housing

	Cook Islands	Maldives
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$102.89 NZ$181.95	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	-29.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$448.16 NZ$792.51	$1,043.39 MVR16,130.74	+132.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$448.16 NZ$792.51	$739.32 MVR11,429.82	+65.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$74.97 NZ$132.57	$85.19 MVR1,317.00	+13.6%
Average			+71.6%

Cook Islands vs. Maldives - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Maldives
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$184.92 MVR2,858.87
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$3,003.87 MVR46,439.89

Cook Islands vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Maldives
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.04 NZ$8.92	$4.87 MVR75.24	-3.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.36 NZ$5.94	$3.55 MVR54.86	+5.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$11.20 NZ$19.81	$13.95 MVR215.70	+24.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$70.81 MVR1,094.69
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$9.73 MVR150.49
Average			+5.3%

Cook Islands vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Cook Islands	Maldives
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$39.51 MVR610.80
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$49.63 MVR767.27
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$87.11 MVR1,346.76
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$52.50 MVR811.70

Cook Islands vs. Maldives - 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

Compare further: Cook Islands vs. Maldives

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 11 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Cook Islands is about 1.3 times smaller than Maldives.

Moving from Cook Islands to Maldives · Cost, visas & climate

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