Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Syria

Damascus vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Damascus is 21.9% cheaper than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 84.0% more in Damascus
Groceries: pay 46.2% less in Damascus
Transportation: pay 19.0% more in Damascus
Housing: pay 17.6% less in Damascus
Childcare: pay 82.6% less in Damascus
Entertainment and Sports: pay 24.7% less in Damascus
Clothing: pay 36.6% less in Damascus

The cost of restaurants and transportation in Damascus are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Expenses including childcare, groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, and housing are lower in Damascus. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Damascus.

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Damascus vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 84.0% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Damascus
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$10.00 SYP130K	+104.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$7.00 SYP91,014	+43.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$2.25 SYP29,254	+178.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$0.85 SYP11,008	+83.8%
Average			+84.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Damascus - Cost of restaurants

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pay 46.2% less for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Damascus
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$0.40 SYP5,199	-63.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$1.96 SYP25,477	-72.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$4.03 SYP52,433	-49.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$1.59 SYP20,653	-37.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$2.59 SYP33,645	+28.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$0.47 SYP6,174	-69.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.63 SYP8,218	-22.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.51 SYP6,582	-51.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$0.47 SYP6,154	-33.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.35 SYP4,563	-40.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.35 SYP4,608	-43.0%
Average			-46.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Damascus - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.0% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Damascus
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$13.98 SYP182K	+334.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$10.00 SYP130K	-18.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$15,000.00 SYP195M	-64.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$13.15 SYP171K	+19.4%
Average			+19.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Damascus - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.6% less for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Damascus
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$46.25 SYP601K	+76.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$523.33 SYP7M	-15.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$186.00 SYP2M	-49.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$107.06 SYP1M	+125.1%
Average			-17.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Damascus - Cost of housing

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pay 82.6% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Damascus
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$66.67 SYP867K	-77.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$1,780.73 SYP23M	-86.4%
Average			-82.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Damascus - Cost of childcare

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pay 24.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Damascus
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.00 SYP26,004	-54.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$3.71 SYP48,293	+20.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.77 SYP36,000	-37.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$28.00 SYP364K	-42.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$5.50 SYP71,511	+9.6%
Average			-24.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Damascus - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.6% less for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Damascus
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$28.60 SYP372K	-60.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$40.00 SYP520K	-4.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$60.00 SYP780K	-30.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$58.33 SYP758K	-39.3%
Average			-36.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Damascus - 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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