Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Maldives

Maldives vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Maldives is 13.8% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 41.8% less in Maldives
Groceries: pay 25.5% less in Maldives
Transportation: pay 20.0% less in Maldives
Housing: pay 25.2% more in Maldives
Childcare: pay 76.4% less in Maldives
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.2% more in Maldives
Clothing: pay 33.0% less in Maldives

The cost of entertainment and sports and housing in Maldives are more expensive than in Costa Rica. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, clothing, groceries, and transportation are lower in Maldives.

Planning a move to Maldives? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Maldives vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Maldives instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.8% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Maldives
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,063.11	$6.00 MVR92.74	-46.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,926.96	$9.57 MVR147.88	-11.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,104.15	$1.63 MVR25.12	-33.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC811.36	$0.30 MVR4.59	-83.4%
Average			-41.8%

Costa Rica vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.5% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Maldives
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,259.30	$1.65 MVR25.57	-40.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,188.51	$3.48 MVR53.75	-27.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,801.08	$6.83 MVR105.52	-18.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,650.45	$1.87 MVR28.89	-48.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC1,998.69	$2.76 MVR42.72	-37.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,000.99	$1.80 MVR27.83	-18.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.31	$1.39 MVR21.40	+91.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC756.58	$1.59 MVR24.56	-4.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC650.92	$1.22 MVR18.83	-14.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC653.84	$0.75 MVR11.63	-47.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC602.69	$0.69 MVR10.63	-48.2%
Average			-25.5%

Costa Rica vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.0% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Maldives
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,626.17	$3.81 MVR58.81	-34.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,340.09	$30.82 MVR476.23	-53.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$32,446.46 MVR501K	+42.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,134.70	$17.52 MVR270.70	+11.5%
Average			-20.0%

Costa Rica vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.2% more for housing

	Costa Rica	Maldives
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,462.03	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	+41.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC379K	$1,043.39 MVR16,120.31	+25.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC271K	$739.32 MVR11,422.43	+23.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,138.15	$85.19 MVR1,316.15	+24.3%
Average			+25.2%

Costa Rica vs. Maldives - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 76.4% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Maldives
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC337K	$184.92 MVR2,857.02	-75.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$3,003.87 MVR46,409.85	-77.6%
Average			-76.4%

Costa Rica vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Maldives
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,320.39	$4.87 MVR75.19	+67.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,843.59	$3.55 MVR54.82	-12.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,404.55	$13.95 MVR215.56	+163.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,141.38	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	+6.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,596.43	$9.73 MVR150.39	+22.9%
Average			+27.2%

Costa Rica vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 33.0% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Maldives
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,654.25	$39.51 MVR610.41	-41.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,492.04	$49.63 MVR766.77	+0.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,697.30	$87.11 MVR1,345.89	-29.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,287.99	$52.50 MVR811.17	-51.6%
Average			-33.0%

Costa Rica vs. Maldives - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Costa Rica vs. Maldives

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Maldives?

Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

Be 34.1% less likely to be unemployed in Maldives

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 171 times bigger than Maldives.

Moving from Costa Rica to Maldives · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

More cost comparisons

Costa Rica vs.

United States

Costa Rica vs.

Nicaragua

Costa Rica vs.

Panama

Costa Rica vs.

Spain

Costa Rica vs.

Canada

Costa Rica vs.

Mexico

Costa Rica vs.

Germany

Costa Rica vs.

Colombia

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in San Jose vs. Male

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Costa Rica

Add prices for Maldives

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Maldives or Costa Rica. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.