Cost of living comparison

Nepal

compared to

Afghanistan

Kabul vs. Kathmandu Cost of Living Summary

Kabul is 20.8% cheaper than Kathmandu.

Restaurants: pay 2.3% less in Kabul
Groceries: pay 20.3% less in Kabul
Transportation: pay 27.0% less in Kabul
Housing: pay 3.6% less in Kabul
Childcare: pay 75.6% less in Kabul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.5% less in Kabul
Clothing: pay 32.4% less in Kabul

Expenses including childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, transportation, groceries, and housing are lower in Kabul.

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Kabul vs. Kathmandu Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3% less for restaurants

	Kathmandu	Kabul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.94 NPR294.83	$2.77 AFN180	+42.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.75 NPR1,179.32	$4.62 AFN300	-40.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 NPR78.70	$0.47 AFN31	-8.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.14 NPR21.97	$0.15 AFN10	+6.5%
Average			-2.3%

Kathmandu vs. Kabul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.3% less for groceries

	Kathmandu	Kabul
Bread 1 loaf	$0.59 NPR90.29	$0.24 AFN16	-59.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.64 NPR553.63	$2.19 AFN142	-39.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.79 NPR423.66	$3.21 AFN208	+15.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.69 NPR256.26	$1.55 AFN101	-7.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.40 NPR213.38	$1.81 AFN118	+29.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 NPR137.93	$0.32 AFN21	-64.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 NPR80.24	$0.40 AFN26	-25.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 NPR96.40	$0.42 AFN27	-33.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.25 NPR38.45	$0.24 AFN16	-5.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.18 NPR27.16	$0.28 AFN18	+56.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 NPR35.38	$0.22 AFN15	-4.0%
Average			-20.3%

Kathmandu vs. Kabul - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.0% less for transportation

	Kathmandu	Kabul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.12 NPR778.50	$4.19 AFN272	-18.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$9.69 NPR1,474.16	$20.77 AFN1,350	+114.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,079.65 NPR4M	$8,461.54 AFN550K	-70.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.08 NPR1,685.45	$5.77 AFN375	-47.9%
Average			-27.0%

Kathmandu vs. Kabul - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.6% less for housing

	Kathmandu	Kabul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.95 NPR1,360.76	$96.92 AFN6,300	+983.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$219.17 NPR33,332.28	$123.08 AFN8,000	-43.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$101.02 NPR15,363.97	$108.80 AFN7,072	+7.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$23.92 NPR3,638.09	$32.46 AFN2,110	+35.7%
Average			-3.6%

Kathmandu vs. Kabul - Cost of housing

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pay 75.6% less for childcare

	Kathmandu	Kabul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$65.27 NPR9,925.98	$20.26 AFN1,317	-69.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,431.44 NPR826K	$1,046.15 AFN68,000	-80.7%
Average			-75.6%

Kathmandu vs. Kabul - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Kathmandu	Kabul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.09 NPR469.27	$2.31 AFN150	-25.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.51 NPR230.34	$1.10 AFN71	-27.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.46 NPR373.45	$2.38 AFN155	-2.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$21.54 NPR3,275.90	$11.08 AFN720	-48.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.91 NPR442.25	$2.31 AFN150	-20.6%
Average			-29.5%

Kathmandu vs. Kabul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.4% less for clothing

	Kathmandu	Kabul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.97 NPR3,797.07	$10.64 AFN692	-57.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$26.44 NPR4,020.42	$16.00 AFN1,040	-39.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$62.68 NPR9,532.87	$57.69 AFN3,750	-8.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$28.43 NPR4,324.19	$25.08 AFN1,630	-11.8%
Average			-32.4%

Kathmandu vs. Kabul - 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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