Cost of living comparison

compared to

Dushanbe vs. Kathmandu Cost of Living Summary

Dushanbe is 57.0% more expensive than Kathmandu.

Restaurants: pay 2.0 times more in Dushanbe
Groceries: pay 42.5% more in Dushanbe
Transportation: pay 36.5% less in Dushanbe
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Dushanbe
Childcare: pay 89.5% more in Dushanbe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.4% more in Dushanbe
Clothing: pay 48.5% more in Dushanbe

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

Dushanbe vs. Kathmandu Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Dushanbe instead of Kathmandu, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.0 times more for restaurants

	Kathmandu	Dushanbe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.76 NPR254.27	$6.09 TJS56.11	+245.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.34 NPR915.36	$9.00 TJS82.94	+41.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 NPR78.23	$0.60 TJS5.53	+10.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.17 NPR24.57	$0.35 TJS3.21	+104.4%
Average			+100.6%

Kathmandu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.5% more for groceries

	Kathmandu	Dushanbe
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 NPR79.15	$0.59 TJS5.48	+8.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.49 NPR648.64	$5.82 TJS53.67	+29.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.16 NPR455.49	$3.96 TJS36.53	+25.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 NPR255.10	$1.76 TJS16.25	-0.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.40 NPR202.37	$2.05 TJS18.92	+46.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 NPR140.50	$0.77 TJS7.14	-20.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.45 NPR65.39	$1.34 TJS12.32	+195.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.54 NPR78.34	$0.92 TJS8.50	+69.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 NPR43.38	$0.57 TJS5.26	+89.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 NPR31.56	$0.31 TJS2.85	+41.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.29 NPR42.07	$0.24 TJS2.19	-18.4%
Average			+42.5%

Kathmandu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.5% less for transportation

	Kathmandu	Dushanbe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.57 NPR659.48	$4.12 TJS37.97	-9.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.57 NPR1,525.60	$10.59 TJS97.58	+0.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,715.30 NPR4,576,800.07	$11,647.15 TJS107,336.20	-63.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.39 NPR1,932.43	$3.60 TJS33.18	-73.1%
Average			-36.5%

Kathmandu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Kathmandu	Dushanbe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.25 NPR1,190.43	$19.59 TJS180.52	+137.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$179.99 NPR25,973.44	$432.36 TJS3,984.45	+140.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$93.92 NPR13,553.52	$249.58 TJS2,300.06	+165.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.92 NPR3,451.30	$42.01 TJS387.15	+75.7%
Average			+129.8%

Kathmandu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of housing

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pay 89.5% more for childcare

	Kathmandu	Dushanbe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$80.28 NPR11,585.72	$105.88 TJS975.78	+31.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,085.67 NPR445,290.29	$7,623.59 TJS70,256.42	+147.1%
Average			+89.5%

Kathmandu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Kathmandu	Dushanbe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.61 NPR376.31	$1.06 TJS9.76	-59.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.78 NPR257.47	$1.94 TJS17.89	+8.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.82 NPR406.83	$3.18 TJS29.27	+12.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$21.82 NPR3,148.99	$42.10 TJS387.99	+92.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.17 NPR457.68	$5.29 TJS48.79	+66.9%
Average			+24.4%

Kathmandu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 48.5% more for clothing

	Kathmandu	Dushanbe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$22.91 NPR3,305.47	$32.43 TJS298.83	+41.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.63 NPR3,842.25	$40.87 TJS376.65	+53.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.89 NPR8,209.18	$79.41 TJS731.84	+39.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$36.56 NPR5,276.03	$58.24 TJS536.68	+59.3%
Average			+48.5%

Kathmandu vs. Dushanbe - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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