Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Gaborone Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 8.4% cheaper than Gaborone.

Restaurants: pay 34.6% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 7.6% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 29.8% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 25.9% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 62.1% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.3% less in Colombo
Clothing: pay 31.5% less in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Gaborone Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.6% less for restaurants

	Gaborone	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	-64.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+30.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$0.70 LKR232.56	-2.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$0.26 LKR87.00	-36.8%
Average			-34.6%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.6% more for groceries

	Gaborone	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$0.55 LKR181.98	-37.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+117.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+10.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$1.64 LKR541.78	-33.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$2.21 LKR731.08	+4.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+307.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$0.37 LKR122.81	-41.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$2.03 LKR672.87	+125.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$0.57 LKR187.42	-23.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$0.46 LKR150.85	-21.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$0.35 LKR116.82	-33.3%
Average			+7.6%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.8% less for transportation

	Gaborone	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	-0.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-75.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+86.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-84.2%
Average			-29.8%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.9% more for housing

	Gaborone	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	-50.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$589.61 LKR195K	+65.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+22.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	-9.9%
Average			+25.9%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 62.1% less for childcare

	Gaborone	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-70.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-51.6%
Average			-62.1%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Gaborone	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$2.21 LKR730.76	+10.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$2.51 LKR832.69	+8.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+184.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-58.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	-26.3%
Average			-14.3%

Gaborone vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 31.5% less for clothing

	Gaborone	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	-61.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-0.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	+9.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	-46.7%
Average			-31.5%

Gaborone 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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