Cost of living comparison

Afghanistan

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Kabul Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 90.0% more expensive than Kabul.

Restaurants: pay 50.7% more in Colombo
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Colombo
Transportation: pay 21.3% more in Colombo
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 46.8% more in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.9% more in Colombo
Clothing: pay 41.8% more in Colombo

The cost of housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, childcare, and clothing in Colombo are more expensive than in Kabul. Notably, housing and groceries are significantly more expensive in Colombo.

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Colombo vs. Kabul Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 50.7% more for restaurants

	Kabul	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.77 AFN180	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	+38.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.62 AFN300	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	+63.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 AFN31	$0.70 LKR232.56	+48.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.15 AFN10	$0.26 LKR87.00	+70.7%
Average			+50.7%

Kabul vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Kabul	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.24 AFN16	$0.55 LKR181.98	+129.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.19 AFN142	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	+214.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.21 AFN208	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+88.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.55 AFN101	$1.64 LKR541.78	+5.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.81 AFN118	$2.21 LKR731.08	+21.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.32 AFN21	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+857.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 AFN26	$0.37 LKR122.81	-6.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.42 AFN27	$2.03 LKR672.87	+385.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.24 AFN16	$0.57 LKR187.42	+137.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 AFN18	$0.46 LKR150.85	+63.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 AFN15	$0.35 LKR116.82	+57.9%
Average			+115.4%

Kabul vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.3% more for transportation

	Kabul	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.19 AFN272	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	+22.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.77 AFN1,350	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	-65.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,461.54 AFN550K	$37,024.95 LKR12M	+337.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.77 AFN375	$3.29 LKR1,091.13	-42.9%
Average			+21.3%

Kabul vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Kabul	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$96.92 AFN6,300	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	-78.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$123.08 AFN8,000	$589.61 LKR195K	+379.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$108.80 AFN7,072	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+148.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$32.46 AFN2,110	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	+26.7%
Average			+158.4%

Kabul vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 46.8% more for childcare

	Kabul	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$20.26 AFN1,317	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	+86.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,046.15 AFN68,000	$1,208.98 LKR400K	+15.6%
Average			+46.8%

Kabul vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Kabul	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.31 AFN150	$2.21 LKR730.76	-4.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.10 AFN71	$2.51 LKR832.69	+128.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.38 AFN155	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+330.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$11.08 AFN720	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	+26.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.31 AFN150	$4.53 LKR1,501.55	+96.5%
Average			+69.9%

Kabul vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 41.8% more for clothing

	Kabul	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$10.64 AFN692	$18.13 LKR6,006.21	+70.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.00 AFN1,040	$16.62 LKR5,505.69	+3.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$57.69 AFN3,750	$79.09 LKR26,193.74	+37.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$25.08 AFN1,630	$41.76 LKR13,832.48	+66.5%
Average			+41.8%

Kabul 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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