Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Paraguay

Paraguay vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Paraguay is 43.5% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 46.1% less in Paraguay
Groceries: pay 47.8% less in Paraguay
Transportation: pay 27.3% less in Paraguay
Housing: pay 44.7% less in Paraguay
Childcare: pay 75.2% less in Paraguay
Entertainment and Sports: pay 39.2% less in Paraguay
Clothing: pay 17.4% less in Paraguay

Expenses including childcare, groceries, restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Paraguay.

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Paraguay vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 46.1% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Paraguay
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	$6.57 PYG37,579	-41.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	$6.51 PYG37,252	-40.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	$1.02 PYG5,827	-58.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC813.02	$0.57 PYG3,268	-68.0%
Average			-46.1%

Costa Rica vs. Paraguay - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.8% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Paraguay
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	$1.41 PYG8,043	-49.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	$4.64 PYG26,538	-3.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	$4.51 PYG25,803	-46.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	$2.22 PYG12,676	-39.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	$1.95 PYG11,173	-55.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	$1.21 PYG6,939	-45.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.98	$0.56 PYG3,218	-22.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC758.13	$0.50 PYG2,880	-69.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC652.25	$0.92 PYG5,262	-35.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC655.18	$0.54 PYG3,100	-62.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC603.93	$0.46 PYG2,653	-65.1%
Average			-47.8%

Costa Rica vs. Paraguay - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.3% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Paraguay
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	$4.65 PYG26,593	-19.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	$37.71 PYG216K	-43.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$17,138.81 PYG98M	-24.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	$13.81 PYG79,014	-12.1%
Average			-27.3%

Costa Rica vs. Paraguay - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.7% less for housing

	Costa Rica	Paraguay
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	$20.97 PYG120K	-59.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$483.98 PYG3M	-42.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$343.10 PYG2M	-42.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	$33.29 PYG190K	-51.4%
Average			-44.7%

Costa Rica vs. Paraguay - Cost of housing

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pay 75.2% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Paraguay
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	$136.54 PYG781K	-81.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$4,480.72 PYG26M	-66.6%
Average			-75.2%

Costa Rica vs. Paraguay - Cost of childcare

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pay 39.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Paraguay
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	$1.46 PYG8,333	-49.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	$3.00 PYG17,137	-26.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	$1.63 PYG9,313	-69.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	$32.98 PYG189K	-50.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	$7.71 PYG44,114	-2.6%
Average			-39.2%

Costa Rica vs. Paraguay - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.4% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Paraguay
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	$63.41 PYG363K	-6.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	$48.55 PYG278K	-2.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	$102.99 PYG589K	-16.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	$65.32 PYG374K	-39.8%
Average			-17.4%

Costa Rica vs. Paraguay - 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: Costa Rica vs. Paraguay

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

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Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 8 times smaller than Paraguay.

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

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