Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Gaborone Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 26.3% more expensive than Gaborone.

Restaurants: pay 48.8% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 25.4% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 18.2% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 63.0% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 4.7 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.6% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 2.0% less in Vientiane

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, and transportation in Vientiane are more expensive than in Gaborone. 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. Gaborone Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 48.8% less for restaurants

	Gaborone	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$2.67 LAK60,254	-75.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$5.35 LAK121K	-7.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$0.71 LAK16,068	-1.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$0.37 LAK8,410	-10.3%
Average			-48.8%

Gaborone vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.4% more for groceries

	Gaborone	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$1.14 LAK25,737	+30.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$13.59 LAK306K	+329.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$7.61 LAK171K	+39.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$1.87 LAK42,101	-24.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$2.81 LAK63,330	+33.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$1.09 LAK24,464	+44.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$0.52 LAK11,662	-18.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$1.19 LAK26,832	+32.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$0.69 LAK15,639	-6.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$0.66 LAK14,918	+13.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$0.49 LAK10,995	-7.7%
Average			+25.4%

Gaborone vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.2% more for transportation

	Gaborone	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$5.62 LAK127K	+9.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$48.44 LAK1M	+63.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$28,190.13 LAK635M	+41.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$8.47 LAK191K	-59.4%
Average			+18.2%

Gaborone vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 63.0% more for housing

	Gaborone	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$12.33 LAK278K	-70.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$643.47 LAK15M	+80.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$414.50 LAK9M	+87.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$69.22 LAK2M	+51.7%
Average			+63.0%

Gaborone vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 4.7 times more for childcare

	Gaborone	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$625.02 LAK14M	+391.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$11,083.07 LAK250M	+343.3%
Average			+366.9%

Gaborone vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Gaborone	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$1.36 LAK30,629	-31.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$1.79 LAK40,336	-22.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$1.78 LAK40,169	-50.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$47.54 LAK1M	+41.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$4.23 LAK95,401	-31.1%
Average			-18.6%

Gaborone vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0% less for clothing

	Gaborone	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$26.74 LAK603K	-43.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$66.85 LAK2M	+299.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$56.75 LAK1M	-21.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$41.00 LAK924K	-47.7%
Average			-2.0%

Gaborone 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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