Cost of living comparison

compared to

Papua New Guinea vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Papua New Guinea is 13.4% more expensive than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.5% less in Papua New Guinea
Groceries: pay 21.5% more in Papua New Guinea
Transportation: pay 14.8% less in Papua New Guinea
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Papua New Guinea
Childcare: pay 18.1% less in Papua New Guinea
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.6% more in Papua New Guinea
Clothing: pay 23.1% less in Papua New Guinea

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

Papua New Guinea vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.5% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	$17.87 PGK76.59	+82.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	$5.92 PGK25.38	-37.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC995.21	$0.80 PGK3.44	-59.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC781.41	$0.70 PGK3.02	-55.2%
Average			-17.5%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.5% more for groceries

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	$1.55 PGK6.66	-38.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	$3.60 PGK15.44	-20.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	$7.76 PGK33.26	+3.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	$4.00 PGK17.16	+43.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	$3.63 PGK15.56	-5.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC886.81	$1.99 PGK8.52	+11.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC305.74	$1.32 PGK5.66	+114.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC819.01	$2.73 PGK11.72	+66.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC617.46	$1.62 PGK6.96	+30.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC635.24	$1.58 PGK6.78	+23.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC547.12	$1.18 PGK5.06	+7.3%
Average			+21.5%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.8% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	$4.22 PGK18.07	-22.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	$23.69 PGK101.54	-56.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	$22,387.96 PGK95,952.53	-38.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	$24.88 PGK106.61	+58.7%
Average			-14.8%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	$165.84 PGK710.76	+237.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	$2,652.44 PGK11,368.07	+229.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	$758.54 PGK3,251.04	+36.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	$80.08 PGK343.20	+26.0%
Average			+132.3%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.1% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	$631.76 PGK2,707.66	+22.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	$3,968.24 PGK17,007.46	-58.5%
Average			-18.1%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	$2.98 PGK12.75	+15.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	$2.56 PGK10.96	-33.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	$6.96 PGK29.82	+48.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	$73.52 PGK315.10	+25.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	$10.30 PGK44.14	+13.1%
Average			+13.6%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.1% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Papua New Guinea
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	$31.15 PGK133.52	-46.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	$36.48 PGK156.37	-18.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	$76.40 PGK327.46	-32.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	$97.73 PGK418.84	+4.6%
Average			-23.1%

Costa Rica vs. Papua New Guinea - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Costa Rica vs.

Vietnam

Costa Rica vs.

Iceland

Costa Rica vs.

United States

Costa Rica vs.

Thailand

Costa Rica vs.

Russia

Costa Rica vs.

China

Costa Rica vs.

Germany

Costa Rica vs.

Ireland

Share this

Compare by city

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

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 Papua New Guinea

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Papua New Guinea 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.