Cost of living comparison

India

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. India Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 48.4% more expensive than India overall.

Restaurants: pay 40.4% more in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 2.1 times more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 18.9% more in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 81.6% more in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 50.4% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.6% more in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 8.1% more in Sri Lanka

The cost of groceries, housing, restaurants, transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Sri Lanka are more expensive than in India. Notably, groceries and housing are significantly more expensive in Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka vs. India Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sri Lanka instead of India, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.4% more for restaurants

	India	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.22 ₹208.71	$2.19 LKR730.52	-1.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.57 ₹335.22	$6.20 LKR2,064.60	+73.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 ₹35.08	$0.82 LKR272.51	+118.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.15 ₹13.72	$0.31 LKR102.24	+110.1%
Average			+40.4%

India vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

	India	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.44 ₹41.25	$0.50 LKR165.88	+13.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.34 ₹220.13	$5.10 LKR1,699.63	+117.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.37 ₹222.15	$5.00 LKR1,666.42	+111.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$0.89 ₹83.48	$1.59 LKR528.67	+78.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.26 ₹118.03	$1.92 LKR641.42	+53.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 ₹78.64	$2.39 LKR794.99	+184.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.29 ₹27.33	$0.33 LKR111.60	+15.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.44 ₹41.13	$1.65 LKR549.35	+276.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.21 ₹19.86	$0.59 LKR196.55	+179.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.15 ₹14.33	$0.45 LKR151.06	+197.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.17 ₹16.43	$0.34 LKR113.82	+95.3%
Average			+106.1%

India vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.9% more for transportation

	India	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.08 ₹382.98	$4.79 LKR1,595.57	+17.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.73 ₹820.02	$4.92 LKR1,637.90	-43.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$12,591.59 ₹1M	$29,619.96 LKR10M	+135.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.85 ₹267.21	$2.96 LKR984.96	+3.9%
Average			+18.9%

India vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 81.6% more for housing

	India	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$6.74 ₹632.80	$16.30 LKR5,432.28	+141.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$124.39 ₹11,681.91	$251.30 LKR83,736.30	+102.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$82.02 ₹7,702.87	$143.93 LKR47,958.68	+75.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$26.32 ₹2,471.92	$35.77 LKR11,919.22	+35.9%
Average			+81.6%

India vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 50.4% less for childcare

	India	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$51.10 ₹4,798.42	$28.08 LKR9,357.83	-45.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,587.68 ₹149K	$711.79 LKR237K	-55.2%
Average			-50.4%

India vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.6% more for entertainment and sports

	India	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.76 ₹165.06	$2.16 LKR718.51	+22.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.55 ₹145.46	$2.16 LKR718.16	+39.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.35 ₹408.24	$9.91 LKR3,303.35	+128.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$14.86 ₹1,395.10	$9.67 LKR3,221.85	-34.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.93 ₹275.04	$3.64 LKR1,213.58	+24.4%
Average			+14.6%

India vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.1% more for clothing

	India	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$21.28 ₹1,998.51	$21.76 LKR7,251.27	+2.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$21.90 ₹2,057.09	$13.15 LKR4,380.97	-40.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$37.98 ₹3,566.99	$71.61 LKR23,860.36	+88.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$28.46 ₹2,672.93	$33.60 LKR11,196.58	+18.1%
Average			+8.1%

India vs. Sri Lanka - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: India vs. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Sri Lanka?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 85.1% more money in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

India is about 50 times bigger than Sri Lanka.

Moving from India to Sri Lanka · UN DESA 2020

10,837 people born in India live in Sri Lanka.

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