Cost of living comparison

Bangladesh

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Dhaka Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 61.1% more expensive than Dhaka.

Restaurants: pay 61.8% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 67.6% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 16.8% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 3.1 times more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 56.2% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.5% less in Colombo
Clothing: pay 10.4% more in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Dhaka Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 61.8% more for restaurants

	Dhaka	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.44 BDT300.03	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	+56.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.87 BDT600.07	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+55.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 BDT39.71	$0.70 LKR232.56	+117.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.16 BDT20.27	$0.26 LKR87.00	+59.7%
Average			+61.8%

Dhaka vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 67.6% more for groceries

	Dhaka	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.62 BDT76.17	$0.55 LKR181.98	-11.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 BDT538.89	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+57.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.12 BDT384.64	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+93.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.20 BDT147.46	$1.64 LKR541.78	+36.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.49 BDT183.07	$2.21 LKR731.08	+48.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.26 BDT154.61	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+144.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.41 BDT50.70	$0.37 LKR122.81	-9.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.07 BDT131.88	$2.03 LKR672.87	+89.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 BDT34.76	$0.57 LKR187.42	+100.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.12 BDT14.18	$0.46 LKR150.85	+295.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 BDT26.97	$0.35 LKR116.82	+61.1%
Average			+67.6%

Dhaka vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.8% less for transportation

	Dhaka	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.23 BDT521.32	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+21.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.73 BDT2,800.32	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-68.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,699.61 BDT4M	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+24.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.46 BDT550.06	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-26.2%
Average			-16.8%

Dhaka vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.1 times more for housing

	Dhaka	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.78 BDT1,328.27	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	+92.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$152.72 BDT18,814.62	$589.61 LKR195K	+286.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$73.69 BDT9,077.95	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+267.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.91 BDT4,300.35	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	+17.8%
Average			+205.8%

Dhaka vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 56.2% less for childcare

	Dhaka	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$90.60 BDT11,161.97	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-58.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,631.62 BDT324K	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-54.1%
Average			-56.2%

Dhaka vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Dhaka	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 BDT600.07	$2.21 LKR730.76	-54.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.38 BDT292.85	$2.51 LKR832.69	+5.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.25 BDT400.05	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+216.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$16.52 BDT2,034.84	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-15.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.06 BDT500.06	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	+11.7%
Average			-4.5%

Dhaka vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.4% more for clothing

	Dhaka	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.79 BDT2,068.36	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	+8.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.19 BDT2,610.88	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-21.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$50.86 BDT6,265.41	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	+55.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$37.02 BDT4,561.23	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	+12.8%
Average			+10.4%

Dhaka 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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