Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

New Zealand

Wellington vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Wellington is 94.8% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 2.5 times more in Wellington
Groceries: pay 45.2% more in Wellington
Transportation: pay 99.2% more in Wellington
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Wellington
Childcare: pay 86.2% more in Wellington
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.3% more in Wellington
Clothing: pay 8.2% more in Wellington

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

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Wellington vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.5 times more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Wellington
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$13.73 NZ$24.27	+180.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$9.02 NZ$15.95	+84.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$2.42 NZ$4.28	+199.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$1.71 NZ$3.02	+270.9%
Average			+150.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.2% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Wellington
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$2.16 NZ$3.82	+97.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$4.62 NZ$8.18	-33.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$7.12 NZ$12.59	-10.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$6.89 NZ$12.19	+172.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$4.37 NZ$7.73	+116.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$1.40 NZ$2.47	-9.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.99 NZ$1.75	+20.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$1.37 NZ$2.42	+32.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$2.93 NZ$5.18	+312.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.95 NZ$1.69	+61.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.57 NZ$1.01	-8.4%
Average			+45.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington - Cost of groceries

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pay 99.2% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Wellington
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$7.03 NZ$12.44	+118.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$101.23 NZ$179.01	+727.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$25,203.61 NZ$44,568.72	-39.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$16.19 NZ$28.63	+47.0%
Average			+99.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Wellington
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$53.32 NZ$94.29	+103.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$1,215.08 NZ$2,148.69	+96.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$1,141.32 NZ$2,018.26	+207.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$149.83 NZ$264.95	+215.0%
Average			+152.7%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington - Cost of housing

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pay 86.2% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Wellington
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$1,055.30 NZ$1,866.14	+252.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$12,899.11 NZ$22,810.11	-1.7%
Average			+86.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Wellington
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$7.28 NZ$12.88	+65.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$3.34 NZ$5.91	+8.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$25.18 NZ$44.53	+471.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$38.09 NZ$67.36	-22.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$12.04 NZ$21.30	+140.1%
Average			+56.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.2% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Wellington
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$77.76 NZ$137.50	+8.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$28.15 NZ$49.78	-32.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$101.77 NZ$179.97	+18.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$152.66 NZ$269.95	+58.9%
Average			+8.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington - 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

Compare further: Kuala Lumpur vs. Wellington

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Size Comparison · See true size

Kuala Lumpur is about 1.8 times smaller than Wellington.

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