Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Eritrea

Asmara vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Asmara is 3.0% cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 3.8 times more in Asmara
Groceries: pay 39.4% more in Asmara
Transportation: pay 71.2% more in Asmara
Housing: pay 43.2% less in Asmara
Childcare: pay 92.1% less in Asmara
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.3% less in Asmara
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Asmara

The cost of restaurants, clothing, transportation, and groceries in Asmara are more expensive than in Ho Chi Minh City. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in Asmara. Notably, restaurants and clothing are significantly more expensive in Asmara.

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Asmara vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Asmara instead of Ho Chi Minh City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Asmara
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$21.00 ERN315.00	+991.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$5.99 ERN89.85	+29.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$1.00 ERN15.00	+86.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$1.00 ERN15.00	+201.4%
Average			+281.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Asmara - Cost of restaurants

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pay 39.4% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Asmara
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	??
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$1.50 ERN22.50	-75.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$6.06 ERN90.85	-1.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$4.38 ERN65.70	+170.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$12.17 ERN182.57	+640.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$5.54 ERN83.16	+307.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.58 ERN8.69	+0.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$0.91 ERN13.61	+25.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.53 ERN7.94	-8.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.82 ERN12.25	+49.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.42 ERN6.35	-19.8%
Average			+39.4%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Asmara - Cost of groceries

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pay 71.2% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Asmara
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$9.46 ERN141.95	+166.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$8.00 ERN120.00	-30.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$66,666.00 ERN1000K	+117.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	??
Average			+71.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Asmara - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.2% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Asmara
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	+1811.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$250.00 ERN3,750.00	-57.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	-32.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$19.12 ERN286.76	-75.9%
Average			-43.2%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Asmara - Cost of housing

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pay 92.1% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Asmara
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$25.00 ERN375.00	-94.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$2,600.00 ERN39,000.00	-89.0%
Average			-92.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Asmara - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Asmara
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$0.60 ERN9.00	-41.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$0.80 ERN12.00	-55.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	??
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$27.00 ERN405.00	+4.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$1.20 ERN18.00	-65.4%
Average			-44.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Asmara - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Asmara
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$135.00 ERN2,025.00	+161.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$120.00 ERN1,800.00	+246.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$200.00 ERN3,000.00	+118.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$150.00 ERN2,250.00	+58.5%
Average			+136.7%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Asmara - 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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