Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 50.0% cheaper than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.4% less in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 2.7% more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 36.9% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 68.9% less in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 93.0% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.3% more in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 53.9% less in Sri Lanka

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

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Sri Lanka vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of Ethiopia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.4% less for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$2.19 LKR726.11	-45.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	-4.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$0.82 LKR270.87	+35.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.31 LKR101.62	-53.3%
Average			-28.4%

Ethiopia vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.7% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$0.50 LKR164.88	-58.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	+38.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	+22.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$1.59 LKR525.48	-10.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$1.92 LKR637.54	-58.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$2.39 LKR790.19	-2.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.33 LKR110.92	+12.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$1.65 LKR546.03	+66.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.59 LKR195.36	+91.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.45 LKR150.14	+106.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.34 LKR113.13	-29.9%
Average			+2.7%

Ethiopia vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.9% less for transportation

	Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	+35.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	-76.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$29,619.96 LKR10M	-46.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$2.96 LKR979.01	-16.1%
Average			-36.9%

Ethiopia vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.9% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	-92.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	-64.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	-63.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	-77.2%
Average			-68.9%

Ethiopia vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 93.0% less for childcare

	Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	-79.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$711.79 LKR236K	-97.6%
Average			-93.0%

Ethiopia vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$2.16 LKR714.17	+169.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$2.16 LKR713.82	+134.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	+23.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	-78.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	-2.9%
Average			+0.3%

Ethiopia vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 53.9% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	-34.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	-81.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	-9.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	-59.4%
Average			-53.9%

Ethiopia vs. Sri Lanka - 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. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Make 5.4 times more money in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

Ethiopia is about 17 times bigger than Sri Lanka.

Moving from Ethiopia to Sri Lanka · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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