Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 12.3% cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants: pay 62.3% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 5.1% more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 1.0% more in Colombo
Housing: pay 9.5% less in Colombo
Childcare: pay 93.3% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.8% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 49.6% less in Colombo

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

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Colombo vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 62.3% more for restaurants

	Ho Chi Minh City	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.92 ₫49,832	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	+98.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 ₫120K	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+63.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 ₫13,905	$0.70 LKR232.56	+30.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 ₫8,590	$0.26 LKR87.00	-20.8%
Average			+62.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.1% more for groceries

	Ho Chi Minh City	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 ₫27,843	$0.55 LKR181.98	-48.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.05 ₫157K	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+13.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.13 ₫159K	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	-1.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 ₫42,008	$1.64 LKR541.78	+0.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.64 ₫42,570	$2.21 LKR731.08	+34.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 ₫35,261	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+124.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,953	$0.37 LKR122.81	-35.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.72 ₫18,715	$2.03 LKR672.87	+181.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 ₫14,918	$0.57 LKR187.42	-1.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 ₫14,104	$0.46 LKR150.85	-16.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 ₫13,662	$0.35 LKR116.82	-33.2%
Average			+5.1%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.0% more for transportation

	Ho Chi Minh City	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.55 ₫91,950	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+44.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.55 ₫299K	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-37.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+20.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.80 ₫150K	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-43.2%
Average			+1.0%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 9.5% less for housing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.46 ₫271K	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	+98.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$585.86 ₫15M	$589.61 LKR195K	+0.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$297.81 ₫8M	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	-9.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.24 ₫2M	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	-48.1%
Average			-9.5%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 93.3% less for childcare

	Ho Chi Minh City	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$438.36 ₫11M	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-91.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,561.82 ₫610M	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-94.9%
Average			-93.3%

Ho Chi Minh City vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Ho Chi Minh City	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.03 ₫26,762	$2.21 LKR730.76	+113.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.81 ₫46,978	$2.51 LKR832.69	+38.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.23 ₫31,892	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+734.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$25.91 ₫671K	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-46.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.46 ₫89,697	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	+30.9%
Average			+40.8%

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

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pay 49.6% less for clothing

	Ho Chi Minh City	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.59 ₫1M	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	-64.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.61 ₫896K	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-52.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.59 ₫2M	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	-13.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$94.62 ₫2M	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	-55.9%
Average			-49.6%

Ho Chi Minh City 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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