Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vanuatu vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Vanuatu is 2.2 times more expensive than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 1.4% less in Vanuatu
Groceries: pay 41.7% more in Vanuatu
Transportation: pay 53.6% more in Vanuatu
Housing: pay 4.4 times more in Vanuatu
Childcare: pay 4.9 times more in Vanuatu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 52.7% more in Vanuatu
Clothing: pay 48.3% less in Vanuatu

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

Vanuatu vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 1.4% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Vanuatu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.54 NZ$19.76	$12.52 VUV1,495	+8.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.93 NZ$13.59	$9.56 VUV1,141	+20.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 NZ$4.94	$2.55 VUV304	-11.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.50 NZ$4.28	$1.93 VUV230	-22.9%
Average			-1.4%

Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.7% more for groceries

	Cook Islands	Vanuatu
Bread 1 loaf	$3.11 NZ$5.32	$2.54 VUV303	-18.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.98 NZ$8.52	$10.02 VUV1,196	+101.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.37 NZ$12.62	$9.06 VUV1,082	+22.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.57 NZ$9.53	$5.26 VUV628	-5.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.40 NZ$5.83	$8.33 VUV995	+144.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 NZ$2.23	$2.11 VUV252	+61.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.79	$0.88 VUV105	-15.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.68	$2.73 VUV325	+74.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.75 NZ$4.71	$2.46 VUV294	-10.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.79	$1.96 VUV234	+87.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.41	$0.95 VUV114	+15.8%
Average			+41.7%

Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu - Cost of groceries

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pay 53.6% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	Vanuatu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.56 NZ$11.24	$7.11 VUV849	+8.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$66.78 VUV7,973
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,538.70 NZ$19,761.44	$22,956.84 VUV3M	+99.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$8.77 VUV1,046
Average			+53.6%

Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.4 times more for housing

	Cook Islands	Vanuatu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$105.96 NZ$181.48	$226.79 VUV27,076	+114.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$305.77 NZ$523.68	$1,906.11 VUV228K	+523.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$305.77 NZ$523.68	$1,278.71 VUV153K	+318.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.72 NZ$141.67	$406.43 VUV48,523	+391.3%
Average			+336.7%

Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu - Cost of housing

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pay 4.9 times more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Vanuatu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$617.75 VUV73,752
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,384.64 NZ$2,371.37	$6,795.22 VUV811K	+390.8%
Average			+390.8%

Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu - Cost of childcare

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pay 52.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Vanuatu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.99 NZ$10.25	$4.81 VUV575	-19.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.80 NZ$6.50	$5.70 VUV680	+50.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.42 NZ$24.70	$9.18 VUV1,096	-36.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.04 NZ$41.17	$67.52 VUV8,061	+180.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.63 NZ$11.36	$12.52 VUV1,495	+88.7%
Average			+52.7%

Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 48.3% less for clothing

	Cook Islands	Vanuatu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.62 NZ$110.66	$33.39 VUV3,987	-48.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$66.78 VUV7,973
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.96 NZ$121.53	??
Average			-48.3%

Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu - 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: March 2026

Compare further: Cook Islands vs. Vanuatu

Quality of Life Comparison · 8 statistics

Make 80.8% less money in Vanuatu

Size Comparison · See true size

Cook Islands is about 52 times smaller than Vanuatu.

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