Cost of living comparison

Sierra Leone

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 22.5% cheaper than Freetown.

Restaurants: pay 5.2% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 24.3% less in Colombo
Transportation: pay 52.2% more in Colombo
Housing: pay 57.8% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.3% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 81.6% more in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.2% less for restaurants

	Freetown	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.00 SLL41,939	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	+91.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.00 SLL231K	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	-31.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83 SLL38,444	$0.70 LKR232.56	-61.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 SLL17,805	$0.26 LKR87.00	-69.1%
Average			-5.2%

Freetown vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.3% less for groceries

	Freetown	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.66 SLL13,755	$0.55 LKR181.98	-16.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.54 SLL74,319	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+94.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$9.15 SLL192K	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	-34.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 SLL38,023	$1.64 LKR541.78	-9.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.54 SLL95,116	$2.21 LKR731.08	-51.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.18 SLL66,581	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	-3.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 SLL28,535	$0.37 LKR122.81	-72.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.32 SLL6,742	$2.03 LKR672.87	+531.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.27 SLL47,558	$0.57 LKR187.42	-75.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 SLL19,023	$0.46 LKR150.85	-49.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.74 SLL15,488	$0.35 LKR116.82	-52.2%
Average			-24.3%

Freetown vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 52.2% more for transportation

	Freetown	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.02 SLL105K	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+2.4%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$7.19 LKR2,381.42
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,000.00 SLL252M	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+208.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.50 SLL94,363	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-26.8%
Average			+52.2%

Freetown vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.8% less for housing

	Freetown	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$55.00 SLL1M	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	-62.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$928.33 SLL19M	$589.61 LKR195K	-36.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,261.67 SLL26M	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	-78.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.88 SLL962K	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	-10.3%
Average			-57.8%

Freetown vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Freetown	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$37.78 LKR12,512.93
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$1,208.98 LKR400K

Freetown vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Freetown	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.25 SLL47,181	$2.21 LKR730.76	-1.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.76 SLL57,878	$2.51 LKR832.69	-8.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.00 SLL62,908	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+242.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$13.99 LKR4,634.42
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.53 LKR1,501.55
Average			+22.3%

Freetown vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 81.6% more for clothing

	Freetown	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.00 SLL210K	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	+81.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$16.62 LKR5,505.69
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$20.00 SLL419K	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	+295.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00 SLL1M	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	-16.5%
Average			+81.6%

Freetown 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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