Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 26.0% cheaper than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 13.8% more in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 0.1% less in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 35.6% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 52.2% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 34.6% less in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.4% more in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 4.4% more in Malaysia

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

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Malaysia vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 13.8% more for restaurants

	Laos	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 LAK50,211	$3.42 MYR13.98	+53.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$4.64 MYR18.95	-13.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LAK17,779	$0.75 MYR3.07	-4.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 LAK10,439	$0.42 MYR1.72	-9.0%
Average			+13.8%

Laos vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.1% less for groceries

	Laos	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$1.10 MYR4.49	-3.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.87 LAK290K	$6.94 MYR28.32	-46.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.94 LAK156K	$7.18 MYR29.31	+3.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$2.09 MYR8.53	+11.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$1.90 MYR7.75	-32.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 LAK18,975	$1.35 MYR5.53	+60.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$0.73 MYR2.97	+40.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$1.19 MYR4.84	-0.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$0.69 MYR2.83
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$0.57 MYR2.34	-13.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$0.61 MYR2.50	+25.3%
Average			-0.1%

Laos vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.6% less for transportation

	Laos	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 LAK113K	$2.76 MYR11.29	-44.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.98 LAK1M	$15.28 MYR62.39	-71.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,872.00 LAK628M	$40,802.19 MYR167K	+46.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.14 LAK206K	$6.46 MYR26.37	-29.3%
Average			-35.6%

Laos vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.2% less for housing

	Laos	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.51 LAK214K	$27.60 MYR112.71	+190.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$885.68 LAK20M	$363.41 MYR1,483.90	-59.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.74 LAK14M	$265.07 MYR1,082.35	-58.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.79 LAK1M	$36.69 MYR149.79	-44.2%
Average			-52.2%

Laos vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 34.6% less for childcare

	Laos	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.49 LAK10M	$231.07 MYR943.51	-46.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,982.68 LAK225M	$8,043.53 MYR32,843.35	-19.4%
Average			-34.6%

Laos vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.32 LAK29,812	$3.61 MYR14.73	+172.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK37,366	$2.76 MYR11.29	+66.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$4.35 MYR17.74	+143.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.54 LAK1M	$38.82 MYR158.52	-39.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.32 LAK74,750	$4.73 MYR19.31	+42.5%
Average			+42.4%

Laos vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.4% more for clothing

	Laos	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.46 LAK1M	$58.43 MYR238.60	+20.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.95 LAK1M	$30.42 MYR124.22	-51.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.36 LAK1M	$77.72 MYR317.35	+20.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.02 LAK1M	$77.79 MYR317.65	+69.1%
Average			+4.4%

Laos vs. Malaysia - 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. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 5.6 times more money in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 1.4 times smaller than Malaysia.

Moving from Laos to Malaysia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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