Cost of living comparison

compared to

Papua New Guinea vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 65.4% more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.6% less in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 10.3% more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 29.1% more in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 3.4 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.2% more in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 7.0% less in Papua New Guinea

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

Papua New Guinea vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.6% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.54 NZ$19.88	$17.87 PGK76.12	+54.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.93 NZ$13.67	$5.92 PGK25.23	-25.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 NZ$4.97	$0.80 PGK3.42	-72.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 NZ$4.31	$0.70 PGK3.00	-71.8%
Average			-28.6%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.3% more for groceries

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 NZ$5.36	$1.55 PGK6.62	-50.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 NZ$8.57	$3.60 PGK15.35	-27.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 NZ$12.70	$7.76 PGK33.06	+5.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.57 NZ$9.59	$4.00 PGK17.05	-28.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 NZ$5.86	$3.63 PGK15.46	+6.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 NZ$2.24	$1.99 PGK8.47	+52.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.80	$1.32 PGK5.63	+26.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.69	$2.73 PGK11.64	+74.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.75 NZ$4.73	$1.62 PGK6.92	-40.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.80	$1.58 PGK6.73	+51.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.42	$1.18 PGK5.03	+43.3%
Average			+10.3%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.1% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.56 NZ$11.31	$4.22 PGK17.96	-35.7%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$23.69 PGK100.90
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,538.70 NZ$19,880.61	$22,387.96 PGK95,354.79	+94.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$24.88 PGK105.95
Average			+29.1%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.4 times more for housing

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$105.96 NZ$182.57	$165.84 PGK706.33	+56.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$305.77 NZ$526.84	$2,652.44 PGK11,297.25	+767.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$305.77 NZ$526.84	$758.54 PGK3,230.79	+148.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.72 NZ$142.53	$80.08 PGK341.06	-3.2%
Average			+242.2%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$631.76 PGK2,690.79
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,384.64 NZ$2,385.67	$3,968.24 PGK16,901.51	+186.6%
Average			+186.6%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.99 NZ$10.31	$2.98 PGK12.67	-50.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 NZ$6.54	$2.56 PGK10.89	-32.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.42 NZ$24.85	$6.96 PGK29.63	-51.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.04 NZ$41.42	$73.52 PGK313.14	+205.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.63 NZ$11.43	$10.30 PGK43.87	+55.2%
Average			+25.2%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.0% less for clothing

	Cook Islands	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.62 NZ$111.33	$31.15 PGK132.69	-51.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$36.48 PGK155.39
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$76.40 PGK325.42
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.96 NZ$122.26	$97.73 PGK416.23	+37.7%
Average			-7.0%

Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea - 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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