Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Australia

Australia vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Australia is 91.3% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 4.3 times more in Australia
Groceries: pay 60.7% more in Australia
Transportation: pay 20.8% more in Australia
Housing: pay 78.3% more in Australia
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Australia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.2 times more in Australia
Clothing: pay 57.5% more in Australia

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, childcare, housing, groceries, and clothing in Australia are more expensive than in Laos. Notably, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Australia.

Planning a move to Australia? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Australia vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Australia instead of Laos, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 4.3 times more for restaurants

	Laos	Australia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 LAK50,211	$18.42 A$26.50	+726.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$10.19 A$14.66	+90.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LAK17,779	$2.88 A$4.14	+264.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 LAK10,439	$2.33 A$3.35	+402.3%
Average			+333.7%

Laos vs. Australia - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 60.7% more for groceries

	Laos	Australia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$2.64 A$3.80	+131.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.87 LAK290K	$4.67 A$6.72	-63.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.94 LAK156K	$6.28 A$9.03	-9.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$4.79 A$6.89	+156.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$4.19 A$6.03	+49.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 LAK18,975	$1.62 A$2.32	+91.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$1.32 A$1.90	+155.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$1.35 A$1.94	+13.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$2.06 A$2.96	+196.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$1.19 A$1.71	+79.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$1.05 A$1.51	+114.9%
Average			+60.7%

Laos vs. Australia - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.8% more for transportation

	Laos	Australia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 LAK113K	$4.98 A$7.17	-0.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.98 LAK1M	$91.09 A$131.05	+71.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,872.00 LAK628M	$27,191.77 A$39,119.22	-2.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.14 LAK206K	$17.22 A$24.78	+88.5%
Average			+20.8%

Laos vs. Australia - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 78.3% more for housing

	Laos	Australia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.51 LAK214K	$57.16 A$82.23	+501.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$885.68 LAK20M	$1,309.09 A$1,883.31	+47.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.74 LAK14M	$1,073.97 A$1,545.05	+70.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.79 LAK1M	$146.37 A$210.58	+122.5%
Average			+78.3%

Laos vs. Australia - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Laos	Australia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.49 LAK10M	$1,957.92 A$2,816.75	+349.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,982.68 LAK225M	$18,377.12 A$26,438.09	+84.1%
Average			+187.7%

Laos vs. Australia - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Australia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.32 LAK29,812	$7.20 A$10.36	+444.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK37,366	$3.95 A$5.68	+138.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$36.89 A$53.08	+1969.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.54 LAK1M	$56.05 A$80.64	-13.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.32 LAK74,750	$14.44 A$20.77	+335.3%
Average			+215.1%

Laos vs. Australia - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 57.5% more for clothing

	Laos	Australia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.46 LAK1M	$77.86 A$112.01	+60.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.95 LAK1M	$53.33 A$76.73	-15.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.36 LAK1M	$112.59 A$161.98	+74.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.02 LAK1M	$118.82 A$170.94	+158.2%
Average			+57.5%

Laos vs. Australia - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Laos vs. Australia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Australia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 28.0 times more money in Australia

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 33 times smaller than Australia.

Moving from Laos to Australia · OECD 2023

75 people moved from Laos to Australia.

More cost comparisons

Laos vs.

India

Laos vs.

Thailand

Laos vs.

United States

Laos vs.

Bangladesh

Laos vs.

France

Laos vs.

Canada

Laos vs.

Vietnam

Laos vs.

Germany

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Vientiane vs. Canberra

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Laos

Add prices for Australia

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Australia or Laos. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.