Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

French Polynesia

Papeete vs. Darwin Cost of Living Summary

Papeete is 70.7% more expensive than Darwin.

Restaurants: pay 6.3% more in Papeete
Groceries: pay 53.0% more in Papeete
Transportation: pay 5.8 times more in Papeete
Housing: pay 10.8% less in Papeete
Childcare: pay 22.0% less in Papeete
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.7% less in Papeete
Clothing: pay 1.1% more in Papeete

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

Papeete vs. Darwin Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Papeete instead of Darwin, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.3% more for restaurants

	Darwin	Papeete
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.63 A$27.86	$19.58 CFPF2,019	-0.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.78 A$16.71	$14.68 CFPF1,514	+24.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.75 A$3.90	$3.13 CFPF323	+14.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.19 A$4.53	$2.77 CFPF286	-13.0%
Average			+6.3%

Darwin vs. Papeete - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.0% more for groceries

	Darwin	Papeete
Bread 1 loaf	$2.76 A$3.92	$0.78 CFPF81	-71.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.25 A$6.04	$13.05 CFPF1,346	+206.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.95 A$7.03	$6.30 CFPF650	+27.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.08 A$5.79	$6.48 CFPF668	+58.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.71 A$5.26	$7.66 CFPF790	+106.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.67 A$2.37	$2.37 CFPF244	+41.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.31 A$1.85	$1.22 CFPF126	-6.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.17 A$1.66	$2.66 CFPF275	+127.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.04 A$2.90	$3.55 CFPF366	+74.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.41 A$2.00	$1.37 CFPF141	-3.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.01 A$1.43	$1.22 CFPF126	+21.0%
Average			+53.0%

Darwin vs. Papeete - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.8 times more for transportation

	Darwin	Papeete
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.30 A$6.10	$5.99 CFPF618	+39.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.59 A$64.71	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,060.36 A$41,249.64	$19,575.51 CFPF2M	-32.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.32 A$18.91	$205.54 CFPF21,200	+1443.2%
Average			+483.3%

Darwin vs. Papeete - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.8% less for housing

	Darwin	Papeete
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$59.42 A$84.34	$68.84 CFPF7,100	+15.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,635.43 A$2,321.41	$1,394.76 CFPF144K	-14.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,301.70 A$1,847.70	$978.78 CFPF101K	-24.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$179.46 A$254.74	$144.08 CFPF14,861	-19.7%
Average			-10.8%

Darwin vs. Papeete - Cost of housing

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pay 22.0% less for childcare

	Darwin	Papeete
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,570.02 A$2,228.56	$489.39 CFPF50,477	-68.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,850.08 A$11,142.78	$9,787.76 CFPF1M	+24.7%
Average			-22.0%

Darwin vs. Papeete - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Darwin	Papeete
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.54 A$9.29	$3.18 CFPF328	-51.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.53 A$5.01	$4.04 CFPF416	+14.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.19 A$35.75	$12.14 CFPF1,252	-51.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.50 A$107.17	$88.09 CFPF9,086	+16.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.70 A$22.29	$14.68 CFPF1,514	-6.5%
Average			-15.7%

Darwin vs. Papeete - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.1% more for clothing

	Darwin	Papeete
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.32 A$112.59	$71.74 CFPF7,400	-9.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.79 A$65.00	$75.01 CFPF7,736	+63.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$103.03 A$146.25	$81.53 CFPF8,409	-20.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$130.83 A$185.71	$92.98 CFPF9,591	-28.9%
Average			+1.1%

Darwin vs. Papeete - 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: June 2026

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