Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Germany

Cologne vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Cologne is 2.4 times more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 5.6 times more in Cologne
Groceries: pay 56.0% more in Cologne
Transportation: pay 2.6 times more in Cologne
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Cologne
Childcare: pay 52.3% more in Cologne
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.4 times more in Cologne
Clothing: pay 34.0% more in Cologne

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

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Cologne vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.6 times more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cologne
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,735	$16.80 €14.99	+772.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫119K	$11.76 €10.49	+154.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,878	$3.78 €3.37	+603.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,573	$3.18 €2.84	+858.6%
Average			+460.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cologne - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.0% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cologne
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,789	$2.52 €2.25	+133.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫156K	$6.27 €5.60	+3.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫158K	$4.91 €4.38	-19.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫41,927	$3.67 €3.27	+126.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,487	$5.55 €4.95	+237.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,193	$1.35 €1.21	-0.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,924	$0.89 €0.80	+54.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,679	$1.15 €1.03	+59.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,889	$1.76 €1.58	+206.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,077	$0.65 €0.58	+19.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,636	$0.53 €0.47	+0.7%
Average			+56.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cologne - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.6 times more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cologne
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,772	$8.66 €7.73	+144.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫298K	$70.54 €62.96	+510.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫794M	$32,914.63 €29,377.56	+7.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$26.99 €24.09	+365.1%
Average			+155.8%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cologne - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cologne
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫270K	$36.81 €32.86	+251.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$1,198.58 €1,069.78	+104.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$894.26 €798.16	+200.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$234.73 €209.51	+196.2%
Average			+159.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cologne - Cost of housing

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pay 52.3% more for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cologne
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$1,093.36 €975.86	+149.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫609M	$21,915.46 €19,560.38	-7.0%
Average			+52.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cologne - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cologne
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,710	$5.60 €5.00	+441.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,887	$4.11 €3.67	+126.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,830	$9.74 €8.69	+690.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫670K	$44.32 €39.56	+71.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,523	$15.68 €13.99	+352.5%
Average			+238.7%

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

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pay 34.0% more for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Cologne
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$89.23 €79.64	+73.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫894K	$41.14 €36.72	+18.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$100.53 €89.72	+9.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$135.12 €120.60	+42.8%
Average			+34.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Cologne - 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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