Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sri Lanka vs. Kenya Cost of Living Summary

Sri Lanka is 4.9% more expensive than Kenya overall.

Restaurants: pay 9.8% more in Sri Lanka
Groceries: pay 60.8% more in Sri Lanka
Transportation: pay 33.4% less in Sri Lanka
Housing: pay 12.2% more in Sri Lanka
Childcare: pay 87.0% less in Sri Lanka
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.1% more in Sri Lanka
Clothing: pay 43.6% more in Sri Lanka

The cost of groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, housing, and restaurants in Sri Lanka are more expensive than in Kenya. Expenses including childcare and transportation are lower in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka vs. Kenya Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.8% more for restaurants

	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.74 KES484.15	$3.63 LKR1,116.85	-2.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES798.62	$7.90 LKR2,426.61	+28.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 KES69.44	$0.73 LKR224.32	+36.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 KES57.53	$0.35 LKR106.15	-22.3%
Average			+9.8%

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 60.8% more for groceries

	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Bread 1 loaf	$0.54 KES70.01	$0.48 LKR147.07	-11.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 KES565.28	$5.72 LKR1,758.02	+31.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.52 KES326.23	$6.01 LKR1,847.59	+138.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.60 KES207.28	$1.94 LKR597.37	+21.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.57 KES332.87	$2.05 LKR629.94	-20.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 KES139.60	$2.40 LKR736.93	+122.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 KES51.88	$0.44 LKR136.48	+10.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 KES89.87	$2.17 LKR665.91	+212.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 KES41.21	$0.55 LKR168.43	+72.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 KES38.21	$0.45 LKR139.78	+54.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.37 KES47.67	$0.51 LKR155.98	+37.8%
Average			+60.8%

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 33.4% less for transportation

	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.69	$4.12 LKR1,264.88	-23.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.41 KES3,419.10	$10.74 LKR3,299.78	-59.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,331.14 KES2,502,416.20	$24,680.98 LKR7,584,425.30	+27.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.74 KES1,778.12	$3.00 LKR921.91	-78.2%
Average			-33.4%

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.2% more for housing

	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.35 KES4,834.47	$12.84 LKR3,944.37	-65.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$194.00 KES25,113.52	$289.17 LKR88,862.02	+49.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$131.26 KES16,990.97	$178.38 LKR54,816.88	+35.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$24.47 KES3,167.26	$31.64 LKR9,722.89	+29.3%
Average			+12.2%

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 87.0% less for childcare

	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$172.28 KES22,301.68	$33.87 LKR10,407.01	-80.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,439.34 KES963,022.59	$466.09 LKR143,227.52	-93.7%
Average			-87.0%

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.03 KES262.67	$2.08 LKR639.65	+2.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.28 KES294.98	$2.39 LKR735.74	+5.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.80 KES362.51	$9.25 LKR2,842.89	+230.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.27 KES3,788.44	$15.04 LKR4,620.30	-48.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.10 KES790.23	$3.12 LKR959.48	-48.9%
Average			+28.1%

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 43.6% more for clothing

	Kenya	Sri Lanka
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$12.46 KES1,612.32	$25.05 LKR7,697.80	+101.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.02 KES2,592.06	$17.03 LKR5,232.27	-15.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.44 KES4,457.72	$62.69 LKR19,264.32	+82.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.93 KES4,262.80	$35.07 LKR10,776.88	+6.5%
Average			+43.6%

Kenya vs. Sri Lanka - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Kenya vs.

Egypt

Kenya vs.

Spain

Kenya vs.

United Kingdom

Kenya vs.

Austria

Kenya vs.

Thailand

Kenya vs.

Russia

Kenya vs.

Italy

Kenya vs.

United States

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Nairobi vs. Colombo

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Kenya

Add prices for Sri Lanka

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Sri Lanka or Kenya. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.