Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Russia

Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Saint Petersburg is 16.5% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 78.6% more in Saint Petersburg
Groceries: pay 22.6% less in Saint Petersburg
Transportation: pay 32.2% more in Saint Petersburg
Housing: pay 22.7% more in Saint Petersburg
Childcare: pay 55.3% more in Saint Petersburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.0% less in Saint Petersburg
Clothing: pay 32.5% more in Saint Petersburg

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

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Saint Petersburg vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint Petersburg instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 78.6% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Saint Petersburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$11.46 RUB947.27	+134.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$6.43 RUB531.63	+31.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$1.49 RUB123.24	+84.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$0.69 RUB56.64	+48.8%
Average			+78.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.6% less for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Saint Petersburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$0.93 RUB76.85	-15.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$6.02 RUB497.41	-14.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$4.17 RUB344.70	-47.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$1.64 RUB135.56	-35.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$2.85 RUB235.33	+41.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$0.77 RUB63.36	-50.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.73 RUB60.03	-11.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.75 RUB62.16	-27.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$1.38 RUB114.37	+94.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.36 RUB29.64	-39.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.28 RUB23.17	-54.9%
Average			-22.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.2% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Saint Petersburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$3.25 RUB268.89	+1.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$52.51 RUB4,339.09	+329.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$35,093.40 RUB3M	-15.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$7.60 RUB628.29	-30.9%
Average			+32.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.7% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Saint Petersburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$8.55 RUB706.83	-67.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$730.46 RUB60,359.10	+18.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$437.21 RUB36,126.86	+17.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$112.08 RUB9,261.39	+135.7%
Average			+22.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of housing

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pay 55.3% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Saint Petersburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$549.43 RUB45,400.15	+83.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$17,234.08 RUB1M	+31.3%
Average			+55.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Saint Petersburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.63 RUB217.49	-40.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$3.03 RUB250.18	-2.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$2.92 RUB241.65	-33.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$39.61 RUB3,273.15	-19.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$7.02 RUB579.96	+39.9%
Average			-11.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.5% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Saint Petersburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$92.36 RUB7,631.78	+29.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$50.79 RUB4,197.10	+21.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$134.52 RUB11,115.96	+56.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$121.11 RUB10,007.20	+26.1%
Average			+32.5%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Saint Petersburg - 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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