Cost of living comparison

Pakistan

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Islamabad Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 19.6% more expensive than Islamabad.

Restaurants: pay 26.2% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 2.0 times more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 37.1% less in Colombo
Housing: pay 62.6% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 65.1% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.6% less in Colombo
Clothing: pay 26.4% less in Colombo

The cost of groceries, housing, and restaurants in Colombo are more expensive than in Islamabad. Expenses including childcare, transportation, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Colombo. Notably, groceries is significantly more expensive in Colombo.

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Colombo vs. Islamabad Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colombo instead of Islamabad, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 26.2% more for restaurants

	Islamabad	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.61 PKR1,001.00	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	+5.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.42 PKR1,501.50	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+39.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 PKR94.38	$0.70 LKR232.56	+106.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.22 PKR60.62	$0.26 LKR87.00	+20.1%
Average			+26.2%

Islamabad vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.0 times more for groceries

	Islamabad	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.75 PKR208.08	$0.55 LKR181.98	-26.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.07 PKR851.66	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+124.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.63 PKR1,006.51	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+66.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.24 PKR343.64	$1.64 LKR541.78	+32.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 PKR390.48	$2.21 LKR731.08	+56.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.59 PKR163.19	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+420.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.38 PKR106.19	$0.37 LKR122.81	-3.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.47 PKR131.67	$2.03 LKR672.87	+327.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.25 PKR68.12	$0.57 LKR187.42	+130.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.13 PKR35.52	$0.46 LKR150.85	+255.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.17 PKR46.29	$0.35 LKR116.82	+111.3%
Average			+100.5%

Islamabad vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.1% less for transportation

	Islamabad	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.11 PKR1,415.96	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.66 PKR6,006.00	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-66.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$54,159.34 PKR15M	$37,024.95 LKR12M	-31.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.04 PKR1,951.95	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-53.2%
Average			-37.1%

Islamabad vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 62.6% more for housing

	Islamabad	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.07 PKR4,732.00	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	+21.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$273.02 PKR75,692.28	$589.61 LKR195K	+116.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$139.79 PKR38,755.38	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+93.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$77.95 PKR21,609.82	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	-47.2%
Average			+62.6%

Islamabad vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 65.1% less for childcare

	Islamabad	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$74.62 PKR20,687.33	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-49.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,015.34 PKR1M	$1,208.98 LKR400K	-75.9%
Average			-65.1%

Islamabad vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Islamabad	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.61 PKR1,001.00	$2.21 LKR730.76	-38.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.65 PKR734.15	$2.51 LKR832.69	-5.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.30 PKR637.64	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+346.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.23 PKR7,826.00	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-50.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.33 PKR1,201.20	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	+4.6%
Average			-11.6%

Islamabad vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.4% less for clothing

	Islamabad	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.82 PKR6,881.88	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	-26.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.87 PKR9,666.47	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	-52.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.43 PKR26,735.16	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	-18.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$40.62 PKR11,261.25	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	+2.8%
Average			-26.4%

Islamabad 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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