Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Iraq

Iraq vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Iraq is 39.9% cheaper than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 35.5% more in Iraq
Groceries: pay 45.6% less in Iraq
Transportation: pay 40.1% less in Iraq
Housing: pay 55.4% less in Iraq
Childcare: pay 67.6% less in Iraq
Entertainment and Sports: pay 46.4% more in Iraq
Clothing: pay 36.4% less in Iraq

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

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Iraq vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 35.5% more for restaurants

	Laos	Iraq
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 LAK50,105	$4.69 IQD7,097	+110.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK120K	$6.78 IQD10,264	+26.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LAK17,741	$0.46 IQD694	-41.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 LAK10,416	$0.25 IQD386	-45.0%
Average			+35.5%

Laos vs. Iraq - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.6% less for groceries

	Laos	Iraq
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,683	$0.77 IQD1,168	-32.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.87 LAK289K	$2.50 IQD3,793	-80.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.94 LAK156K	$4.14 IQD6,268	-40.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,012	$1.73 IQD2,620	-7.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,196	$2.04 IQD3,086	-27.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 LAK18,935	$0.46 IQD695	-45.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,638	$0.50 IQD762	-2.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,775	$0.45 IQD678	-62.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,606	$0.31 IQD472	-55.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,886	$0.30 IQD453	-54.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,972	$0.28 IQD430	-41.7%
Average			-45.6%

Laos vs. Iraq - Cost of groceries

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pay 40.1% less for transportation

	Laos	Iraq
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 LAK113K	$2.18 IQD3,301	-56.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.98 LAK1M	$35.81 IQD54,221	-32.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,872.00 LAK627M	$15,719.55 IQD24M	-43.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.14 LAK205K	$14.95 IQD22,633	+63.6%
Average			-40.1%

Laos vs. Iraq - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.4% less for housing

	Laos	Iraq
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.51 LAK214K	$35.82 IQD54,239	+276.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$885.68 LAK20M	$299.18 IQD453K	-66.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.74 LAK14M	$206.21 IQD312K	-67.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.79 LAK1M	$69.07 IQD105K	+5.0%
Average			-55.4%

Laos vs. Iraq - Cost of housing

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pay 67.6% less for childcare

	Laos	Iraq
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.49 LAK10M	$167.07 IQD253K	-61.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,982.68 LAK224M	$2,726.78 IQD4M	-72.7%
Average			-67.6%

Laos vs. Iraq - Cost of childcare

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pay 46.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Iraq
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.32 LAK29,749	$3.16 IQD4,791	+139.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK37,287	$2.65 IQD4,009	+59.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,084	$1.96 IQD2,967	+9.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.54 LAK1M	$34.60 IQD52,393	-46.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.32 LAK74,592	$9.36 IQD14,179	+182.3%
Average			+46.4%

Laos vs. Iraq - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.4% less for clothing

	Laos	Iraq
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.46 LAK1M	$24.05 IQD36,414	-50.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.95 LAK1M	$24.78 IQD37,519	-60.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.36 LAK1M	$56.42 IQD85,419	-12.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.02 LAK1M	$44.01 IQD66,634	-4.4%
Average			-36.4%

Laos vs. Iraq - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Laos vs. Iraq

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Iraq?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 13.0 times more likely to be unemployed in Iraq

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 1.9 times smaller than Iraq.

Moving from Laos to Iraq · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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