Cost of living comparison

compared to

Addis Ababa vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 44.1% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 3.0% more in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 15.1% more in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 32.4% more in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 85.4% more in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.9% less in Addis Ababa
Clothing: pay 30.6% more in Addis Ababa

The cost of housing, childcare, transportation, clothing, groceries, and restaurants in Addis Ababa are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Notably, housing and childcare are significantly more expensive in Addis Ababa.

Addis Ababa vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Addis Ababa instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.74 MYR19.59	$4.26 ETB655.54	-10.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.74 MYR19.59	$6.50 ETB1,000.24	+37.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MYR3.66	$0.61 ETB93.51	-31.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 MYR2.01	$0.57 ETB87.20	+16.5%
Average			+3.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.1% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 MYR4.03	$1.26 ETB193.73	+29.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.13 MYR29.45	$4.34 ETB667.36	-39.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.98 MYR32.96	$5.42 ETB834.53	-32.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.23 MYR9.21	$2.28 ETB351.02	+2.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.09 MYR8.65	$5.76 ETB886.79	+175.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 MYR5.45	$3.08 ETB473.48	+133.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 MYR3.09	$0.43 ETB66.40	-42.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 MYR5.04	$1.06 ETB162.78	-13.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 MYR2.86	$0.40 ETB62.30	-41.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 MYR2.34	$0.28 ETB42.45	-51.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.56	$0.91 ETB139.43	+46.0%
Average			+15.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.4% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.87 MYR7.71	$4.81 ETB740.52	+157.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.85 MYR48.96	$12.00 ETB1,846.60	+1.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,284.36 MYR166,475.12	$55,000.00 ETB8,463,587.61	+36.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.66 MYR44.07	$3.62 ETB556.29	-66.1%
Average			+32.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.49 MYR105.32	$130.20 ETB20,035.62	+410.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$573.16 MYR2,368.60	$815.99 ETB125,568.08	+42.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.71 MYR1,449.31	$512.43 ETB78,854.26	+46.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.59 MYR192.54	$121.97 ETB18,769.25	+161.8%
Average			+165.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

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pay 85.4% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$264.45 MYR1,092.86	$94.05 ETB14,472.47	-64.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,004.74 MYR37,212.09	$30,187.50 ETB4,645,355.47	+235.2%
Average			+85.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.27 MYR17.63	$0.90 ETB138.50	-78.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 MYR12.65	$1.09 ETB167.35	-64.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.27 MYR17.63	$5.10 ETB784.81	+19.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.43 MYR191.86	$62.10 ETB9,556.74	+33.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MYR20.56	$3.75 ETB577.06	-24.6%
Average			-22.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.6% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.66 MYR254.80	$45.03 ETB6,929.81	-27.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.10 MYR153.34	$75.17 ETB11,566.90	+102.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.80 MYR362.83	$94.08 ETB14,477.62	+7.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.47 MYR340.83	$115.09 ETB17,709.97	+39.5%
Average			+30.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Addis Ababa - 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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