Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 46.9% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 3.5% more in Budapest
Transportation: pay 48.8% more in Budapest
Housing: pay 60.5% more in Budapest
Childcare: pay 51.4% more in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.3% more in Budapest
Clothing: pay 23.4% more in Budapest

The cost of restaurants, housing, childcare, transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Budapest are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Budapest.

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Budapest vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Budapest instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	+181.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	+107.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$2.08 HUF673.49	+157.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$1.83 HUF591.19	+297.0%
Average			+159.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.5% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$1.80 HUF580.67	+64.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	-20.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-44.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	+53.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	+53.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$0.85 HUF274.62	-45.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.94 HUF303.05	+14.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$1.06 HUF341.51	+1.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$1.73 HUF558.38	+142.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.45 HUF144.57	-24.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.46 HUF147.52	-26.6%
Average			+3.5%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 48.8% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	+119.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	+125.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$29,374.56 HUF9M	-29.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	+28.4%
Average			+48.8%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 60.5% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	-10.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$817.66 HUF264K	+32.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$631.44 HUF204K	+70.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	+179.2%
Average			+60.5%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 51.4% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$539.65 HUF174K	+80.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+27.0%
Average			+51.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	-16.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	+8.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+80.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+37.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	+86.0%
Average			+31.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.4% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	+40.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	+2.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	+31.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	+23.0%
Average			+23.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Budapest - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Kuala Lumpur is about 2.2 times smaller than Budapest.

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