Cost of living comparison

Iraq

compared to

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka vs. Iraq Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 21.3% cheaper than Iraq overall.

Restaurants: pay 25.7% less in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 45.2% more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 17.6% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 29.6% less in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 79.1% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.0% less in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 17.4% less in Sri Lanka

Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, transportation, and clothing are lower in Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka vs. Iraq Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 25.7% less for restaurants

	Iraq	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.69 IQD7,116	$2.19 LKR726.11	-53.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.78 IQD10,292	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	-8.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 IQD696	$0.82 LKR270.87	+78.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.25 IQD387	$0.31 LKR101.62	+20.5%
Average			-25.7%

Iraq vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.2% more for groceries

	Iraq	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 IQD1,171	$0.50 LKR164.88	-35.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.50 IQD3,803	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	+103.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.14 IQD6,285	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	+20.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.73 IQD2,627	$1.59 LKR525.48	-8.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.04 IQD3,095	$1.92 LKR637.54	-5.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.46 IQD697	$2.39 LKR790.19	+419.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.50 IQD764	$0.33 LKR110.92	-33.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.45 IQD680	$1.65 LKR546.03	+268.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 IQD474	$0.59 LKR195.36	+89.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 IQD454	$0.45 LKR150.14	+51.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 IQD432	$0.34 LKR113.13	+20.1%
Average			+45.2%

Iraq vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.6% less for transportation

	Iraq	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.18 IQD3,310	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	+119.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$35.81 IQD54,369	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	-86.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$15,719.55 IQD24M	$29,619.96 LKR10M	+88.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.95 IQD22,695	$2.96 LKR979.01	-80.2%
Average			-17.6%

Iraq vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

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pay 29.6% less for housing

	Iraq	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.82 IQD54,388	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	-54.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$299.18 IQD454K	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	-16.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.21 IQD313K	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	-30.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$69.07 IQD105K	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	-48.2%
Average			-29.6%

Iraq vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

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pay 79.1% less for childcare

	Iraq	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$167.07 IQD254K	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	-83.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,726.78 IQD4M	$711.79 LKR236K	-73.9%
Average			-79.1%

Iraq vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Iraq	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.16 IQD4,804	$2.16 LKR714.17	-31.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.65 IQD4,020	$2.16 LKR713.82	-18.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.96 IQD2,975	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	+405.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.60 IQD52,536	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	-72.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 IQD14,218	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	-61.1%
Average			-40.0%

Iraq vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.4% less for clothing

	Iraq	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.05 IQD36,514	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	-9.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.78 IQD37,621	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	-46.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.42 IQD85,653	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	+26.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$44.01 IQD66,816	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	-23.6%
Average			-17.4%

Iraq 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Iraq vs. Sri Lanka

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 74.2% less likely to be unemployed in Sri Lanka

Size Comparison · See true size

Iraq is about 7 times bigger than Sri Lanka.

Moving from Iraq to Sri Lanka · UN DESA 2020

39 people born in Iraq live in Sri Lanka.

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