Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Botswana

Botswana vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Botswana is 27.2% cheaper than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.1 times more in Botswana
Groceries: pay 17.3% less in Botswana
Transportation: pay 14.3% less in Botswana
Housing: pay 53.4% less in Botswana
Childcare: pay 73.0% less in Botswana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.4% more in Botswana
Clothing: pay 15.9% less in Botswana

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

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Botswana vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1 times more for restaurants

	Laos	Botswana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 LAK50,211	$10.85 BWP148.87	+386.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$5.79 BWP79.40	+8.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LAK17,779	$0.72 BWP9.92	-8.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 LAK10,439	$0.42 BWP5.71	-10.2%
Average			+105.5%

Laos vs. Botswana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.3% less for groceries

	Laos	Botswana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$0.88 BWP12.02	-23.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.87 LAK290K	$3.16 BWP43.42	-75.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.94 LAK156K	$5.47 BWP75.12	-21.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$2.47 BWP33.83	+32.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$2.11 BWP28.88	-25.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 LAK18,975	$0.75 BWP10.31	-10.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.64 BWP8.75	+23.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$0.90 BWP12.38	-24.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.74 BWP10.15	+6.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.58 BWP7.97	-12.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.53 BWP7.25	+8.3%
Average			-17.3%

Laos vs. Botswana - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.3% less for transportation

	Laos	Botswana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 LAK113K	$5.15 BWP70.71	+2.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.98 LAK1M	$29.66 BWP406.91	-44.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,872.00 LAK628M	$19,891.73 BWP273K	-28.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.14 LAK206K	$20.87 BWP286.32	+128.4%
Average			-14.3%

Laos vs. Botswana - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.4% less for housing

	Laos	Botswana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.51 LAK214K	$42.10 BWP577.61	+342.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$885.68 LAK20M	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	-59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.74 LAK14M	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	-65.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.79 LAK1M	$45.63 BWP626.12	-30.6%
Average			-53.4%

Laos vs. Botswana - Cost of housing

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pay 73.0% less for childcare

	Laos	Botswana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.49 LAK10M	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	-70.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,982.68 LAK225M	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	-75.0%
Average			-73.0%

Laos vs. Botswana - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Botswana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.32 LAK29,812	$1.99 BWP27.29	+50.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK37,366	$2.32 BWP31.83	+39.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$3.62 BWP49.62	+102.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.54 LAK1M	$33.58 BWP460.78	-48.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.32 LAK74,750	$6.15 BWP84.36	+85.4%
Average			+23.4%

Laos vs. Botswana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.9% less for clothing

	Laos	Botswana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.46 LAK1M	$47.53 BWP652.19	-1.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.95 LAK1M	$16.75 BWP229.75	-73.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.36 LAK1M	$72.33 BWP992.46	+12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.02 LAK1M	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	+70.3%
Average			-15.9%

Laos vs. Botswana - 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: Laos vs. Botswana

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Botswana?

Quality of Life Comparison · 18 statistics

Be 20.6 times more likely to be unemployed in Botswana

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 2.5 times smaller than Botswana.

Moving from Laos to Botswana · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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