Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Laos

Laos vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Laos is 5.7% more expensive than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.8% less in Laos
Groceries: pay 30.0% more in Laos
Transportation: pay 27.7% more in Laos
Housing: pay 0.7% less in Laos
Childcare: pay 2.7% more in Laos
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.2% more in Laos
Clothing: pay 12.3% less in Laos

The cost of groceries, transportation, entertainment and sports, and childcare in Laos are more expensive than in Ethiopia. Expenses including restaurants, clothing, and housing are lower in Laos.

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Laos vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Laos instead of Ethiopia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.8% less for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Laos
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$2.23 LAK50,211	-44.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$5.35 LAK121K	-17.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$0.79 LAK17,779	+30.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.46 LAK10,439	-29.5%
Average			-28.8%

Ethiopia vs. Laos - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.0% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Laos
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$1.14 LAK25,737	-4.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$12.87 LAK290K	+248.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$6.94 LAK156K	+69.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$1.87 LAK42,101	+5.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$2.81 LAK63,330	-38.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$0.84 LAK18,975	-65.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.52 LAK11,662	+73.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$1.19 LAK26,832	+20.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.69 LAK15,639	+125.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.66 LAK14,918	+200.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.49 LAK10,995	+0.1%
Average			+30.0%

Ethiopia vs. Laos - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.7% more for transportation

	Ethiopia	Laos
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$5.01 LAK113K	+42.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$52.98 LAK1M	+151.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$27,872.00 LAK628M	-49.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$9.14 LAK206K	+159.2%
Average			+27.7%

Ethiopia vs. Laos - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.7% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Laos
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$9.51 LAK214K	-95.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$885.68 LAK20M	+25.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$631.74 LAK14M	+60.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$65.79 LAK1M	-58.0%
Average			-0.7%

Ethiopia vs. Laos - Cost of housing

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pay 2.7% more for childcare

	Ethiopia	Laos
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$435.49 LAK10M	+219.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$9,982.68 LAK225M	-66.9%
Average			+2.7%

Ethiopia vs. Laos - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Laos
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$1.32 LAK29,812	+65.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$1.66 LAK37,366	+80.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$1.78 LAK40,169	-77.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$64.54 LAK1M	+46.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$3.32 LAK74,750	-11.5%
Average			+14.2%

Ethiopia vs. Laos - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.3% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Laos
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$48.46 LAK1M	+46.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$62.95 LAK1M	-11.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$64.36 LAK1M	-18.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$46.02 LAK1M	-44.4%
Average			-12.3%

Ethiopia vs. Laos - 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

Compare further: Ethiopia vs. Laos

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Laos?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 3.0 times more likely to have internet access in Laos

Size Comparison · See true size

Ethiopia is about 4.7 times bigger than Laos.

Moving from Ethiopia to Laos · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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