Cost of living comparison

Syria

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Damascus Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 28.1% more expensive than Damascus.

Restaurants: pay 58.7% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 83.6% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 24.7% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 31.2% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 7.6 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.2% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 1.0% more in Vientiane

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

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Vientiane vs. Damascus Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Damascus, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.7% less for restaurants

	Damascus	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00 SYP130K	$2.67 LAK60,126	-73.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.00 SYP91,014	$5.35 LAK120K	-23.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 SYP29,254	$0.71 LAK16,034	-68.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SYP11,008	$0.37 LAK8,393	-55.9%
Average			-58.7%

Damascus vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 83.6% more for groceries

	Damascus	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.40 SYP5,199	$1.14 LAK25,683	+185.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.96 SYP25,477	$13.59 LAK306K	+593.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.03 SYP52,433	$7.61 LAK171K	+88.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 SYP20,653	$1.87 LAK42,012	+17.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.59 SYP33,645	$2.81 LAK63,196	+8.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.47 SYP6,174	$1.09 LAK24,412	+128.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.63 SYP8,218	$0.52 LAK11,638	-18.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.51 SYP6,582	$1.19 LAK26,775	+135.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.47 SYP6,154	$0.69 LAK15,606	+46.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 SYP4,563	$0.66 LAK14,886	+88.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.35 SYP4,608	$0.49 LAK10,972	+37.7%
Average			+83.6%

Damascus vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.7% more for transportation

	Damascus	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$13.98 SYP182K	$5.62 LAK126K	-59.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 SYP130K	$48.44 LAK1M	+384.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$15,000.00 SYP195M	$28,190.13 LAK634M	+87.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.15 SYP171K	$8.47 LAK190K	-35.6%
Average			+24.7%

Damascus vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.2% more for housing

	Damascus	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.25 SYP601K	$12.33 LAK277K	-73.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$523.33 SYP7M	$643.47 LAK14M	+23.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$186.00 SYP2M	$414.50 LAK9M	+122.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$107.06 SYP1M	$69.22 LAK2M	-35.3%
Average			+31.2%

Damascus vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 7.6 times more for childcare

	Damascus	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$66.67 SYP867K	$625.02 LAK14M	+837.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,780.73 SYP23M	$11,083.07 LAK249M	+522.4%
Average			+663.9%

Damascus vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Damascus	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.00 SYP26,004	$1.36 LAK30,564	-32.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.71 SYP48,293	$1.79 LAK40,251	-51.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.77 SYP36,000	$1.78 LAK40,084	-35.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.00 SYP364K	$47.54 LAK1M	+69.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.50 SYP71,511	$4.23 LAK95,200	-23.0%
Average			-18.2%

Damascus vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.0% more for clothing

	Damascus	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$28.60 SYP372K	$26.74 LAK601K	-6.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00 SYP520K	$66.85 LAK2M	+67.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$60.00 SYP780K	$56.75 LAK1M	-5.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$58.33 SYP758K	$41.00 LAK922K	-29.7%
Average			+1.0%

Damascus vs. Vientiane - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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