Cost of living comparison

India

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Delhi Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 50.7% more expensive than Delhi.

Restaurants: pay 47.3% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 32.5% more in Colombo
Housing: pay 89.1% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 54.9% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.7% less in Colombo
Clothing: pay 10.0% less in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Delhi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Delhi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 47.3% more for restaurants

	Delhi	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.62 ₹339.71	$3.82 LKR1,273.30	+5.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.67 ₹344.56	$7.56 LKR2,517.80	+105.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 ₹33.72	$0.70 LKR233.97	+95.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.17 ₹16.07	$0.26 LKR87.52	+53.5%
Average			+47.3%

Delhi vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Delhi	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.54 ₹50.25	$0.55 LKR183.09	+2.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.27 ₹213.14	$6.89 LKR2,295.37	+203.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.66 ₹249.73	$6.03 LKR2,008.39	+126.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.09 ₹102.19	$1.64 LKR545.08	+50.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.55 ₹145.58	$2.21 LKR735.52	+42.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 ₹83.01	$3.06 LKR1,020.54	+246.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.34 ₹32.38	$0.37 LKR123.56	+7.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.45 ₹41.88	$2.03 LKR676.96	+355.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.23 ₹21.13	$0.57 LKR188.56	+151.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.13 ₹11.92	$0.46 LKR151.77	+258.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.17 ₹16.10	$0.35 LKR117.53	+105.7%
Average			+116.0%

Delhi vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.5% more for transportation

	Delhi	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.06 ₹380.82	$5.14 LKR1,711.59	+26.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.50 ₹1,455.91	$7.19 LKR2,395.90	-53.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$10,335.43 ₹971K	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+258.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.05 ₹286.33	$3.29 LKR1,097.76	+8.1%
Average			+32.5%

Delhi vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 89.1% more for housing

	Delhi	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$6.60 ₹619.88	$20.78 LKR6,925.33	+214.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$267.93 ₹25,161.07	$589.61 LKR196K	+120.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$153.58 ₹14,423.19	$270.44 LKR90,115.57	+76.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.95 ₹3,000.79	$41.14 LKR13,707.49	+28.7%
Average			+89.1%

Delhi vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 54.9% less for childcare

	Delhi	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$100.91 ₹9,476.17	$37.78 LKR12,589.00	-62.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,228.58 ₹209K	$1,208.98 LKR403K	-45.8%
Average			-54.9%

Delhi vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Delhi	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.07 ₹194.12	$2.21 LKR735.20	+6.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.27 ₹213.38	$2.51 LKR837.76	+10.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.96 ₹465.89	$10.28 LKR3,424.21	+107.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$19.31 ₹1,813.27	$13.99 LKR4,662.59	-27.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.17 ₹485.30	$4.53 LKR1,510.68	-12.3%
Average			-0.7%

Delhi vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.0% less for clothing

	Delhi	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.81 ₹2,235.99	$18.13 LKR6,042.72	-23.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.14 ₹2,642.99	$16.62 LKR5,539.16	-40.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$52.37 ₹4,917.73	$79.09 LKR26,352.98	+51.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$43.28 ₹4,064.41	$41.76 LKR13,916.57	-3.5%
Average			-10.0%

Delhi vs. Colombo - 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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