Cost of living comparison

compared to

Sao Paulo vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Sao Paulo is 31.4% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 59.7% more in Sao Paulo
Groceries: pay 5.4% more in Sao Paulo
Transportation: pay 87.0% more in Sao Paulo
Housing: pay 4.3% more in Sao Paulo
Childcare: pay 79.0% more in Sao Paulo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.9% less in Sao Paulo
Clothing: pay 0.3% more in Sao Paulo

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

Sao Paulo vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sao Paulo instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 59.7% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Paulo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.74 MYR19.42	$7.83 R$42.41	+65.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.74 MYR19.42	$7.45 R$40.39	+57.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MYR3.63	$1.22 R$6.61	+37.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 MYR1.99	$0.87 R$4.71	+78.8%
Average			+59.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.4% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Paulo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 MYR4.00	$1.91 R$10.35	+95.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.13 MYR29.20	$5.88 R$31.84	-17.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.98 MYR32.68	$3.98 R$21.55	-50.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.23 MYR9.13	$2.66 R$14.43	+19.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.09 MYR8.58	$2.09 R$11.31	-0.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 MYR5.41	$1.28 R$6.96	-2.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 MYR3.07	$0.85 R$4.63	+14.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 MYR5.00	$0.74 R$4.03	-39.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 MYR2.83	$0.88 R$4.79	+27.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 MYR2.32	$0.66 R$3.59	+17.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.59 R$3.19	-5.1%
Average			+5.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of groceries

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pay 87.0% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Paulo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.87 MYR7.65	$4.28 R$23.22	+129.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.85 MYR48.55	$46.58 R$252.46	+293.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,284.36 MYR165,057.11	$22,360.53 R$121,180.64	-44.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.66 MYR43.69	$7.45 R$40.39	-30.1%
Average			+87.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.3% more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Paulo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.49 MYR104.43	$20.82 R$112.83	-18.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$573.16 MYR2,348.42	$671.45 R$3,638.87	+17.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.71 MYR1,436.97	$417.23 R$2,261.12	+19.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.59 MYR190.90	$46.29 R$250.87	-0.6%
Average			+4.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of housing

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pay 79.0% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Paulo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$264.45 MYR1,083.55	$484.48 R$2,625.58	+83.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,004.74 MYR36,895.12	$15,731.99 R$85,257.92	+74.7%
Average			+79.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Paulo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.27 MYR17.48	$2.24 R$12.12	-47.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 MYR12.54	$2.13 R$11.52	-30.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.27 MYR17.48	$2.63 R$14.26	-38.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.43 MYR190.23	$31.73 R$171.94	-31.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MYR20.39	$8.39 R$45.44	+68.5%
Average			-15.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Paulo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.3% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Sao Paulo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.66 MYR252.63	$54.85 R$297.28	-11.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.10 MYR152.03	$45.57 R$246.95	+22.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.80 MYR359.74	$87.31 R$473.15	-0.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.47 MYR337.92	$74.26 R$402.43	-10.0%
Average			+0.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Sao Paulo - 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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