Cost of living comparison

Tajikistan

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Dushanbe Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 22.1% more expensive than Dushanbe.

Restaurants: pay 22.3% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 42.3% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 54.7% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 10.7% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 3.8 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.5% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 7.2% less in Vientiane

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

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Vientiane vs. Dushanbe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 22.3% less for restaurants

	Dushanbe	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.88 TJS44.99	$2.67 LAK60,254	-45.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.42 TJS49.99	$5.35 LAK121K	-1.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 TJS5.57	$0.71 LAK16,068	+18.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 TJS3.25	$0.37 LAK8,410	+6.0%
Average			-22.3%

Dushanbe vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.3% more for groceries

	Dushanbe	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.62 TJS5.69	$1.14 LAK25,737	+85.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.53 TJS50.99	$13.59 LAK306K	+146.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.10 TJS37.85	$7.61 LAK171K	+85.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 TJS16.68	$1.87 LAK42,101	+3.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.96 TJS18.07	$2.81 LAK63,330	+43.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TJS7.86	$1.09 LAK24,464	+27.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.29 TJS11.87	$0.52 LAK11,662	-59.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 TJS11.11	$1.19 LAK26,832	-1.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 TJS5.22	$0.69 LAK15,639	+22.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 TJS2.56	$0.66 LAK14,918	+138.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.19 TJS1.74	$0.49 LAK10,995	+159.0%
Average			+42.3%

Dushanbe vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 54.7% more for transportation

	Dushanbe	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.37 TJS40.37	$5.62 LAK127K	+28.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.50 TJS299.95	$48.44 LAK1M	+49.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,250.83 TJS150K	$28,190.13 LAK635M	+73.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.68 TJS33.99	$8.47 LAK191K	+129.9%
Average			+54.7%

Dushanbe vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 10.7% more for housing

	Dushanbe	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.18 TJS158.54	$12.33 LAK278K	-28.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$628.00 TJS5,795.70	$643.47 LAK15M	+2.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$352.75 TJS3,255.46	$414.50 LAK9M	+17.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.70 TJS477.10	$69.22 LAK2M	+33.9%
Average			+10.7%

Dushanbe vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 3.8 times more for childcare

	Dushanbe	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$83.42 TJS769.87	$625.02 LAK14M	+649.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,679.67 TJS52,416.23	$11,083.07 LAK250M	+95.1%
Average			+282.4%

Dushanbe vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Dushanbe	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 TJS11.00	$1.36 LAK30,629	+14.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 TJS16.50	$1.79 LAK40,336	+0.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.79 TJS34.99	$1.78 LAK40,169	-53.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.50 TJS419.93	$47.54 LAK1M	+4.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.42 TJS49.99	$4.23 LAK95,401	-21.8%
Average			-9.5%

Dushanbe vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.2% less for clothing

	Dushanbe	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.38 TJS224.96	$26.74 LAK603K	+9.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.65 TJS485.92	$66.85 LAK2M	+27.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.64 TJS716.55	$56.75 LAK1M	-26.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$56.34 TJS519.91	$41.00 LAK924K	-27.2%
Average			-7.2%

Dushanbe 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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