Cost of living comparison
compared to
Maldives vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary
Maldives is 63.9% more expensive than Laos overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 74.1% more in Maldives
- Groceries
-
pay 36.1% more in Maldives
- Transportation
-
pay 2.4% more in Maldives
- Housing
-
pay 2.6 times more in Maldives
- Childcare
-
pay 53.0% less in Maldives
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 3.3 times more in Maldives
- Clothing
-
pay 4.4% more in Maldives
The cost of entertainment and sports, housing, restaurants, groceries, clothing, and transportation in Maldives are more expensive than in Laos. Notably, entertainment and sports and housing are significantly more expensive in Maldives.
Maldives vs. Laos Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Maldives instead of Laos, you would:
pay 74.1% more for restaurants
|
Laos
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$2.08
LAK44,965
|
$5.56
MVR85.86
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$5.54
LAK119,908
|
$9.80
MVR151.53
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$0.76
LAK16,442
|
$1.45
MVR22.37
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.50
LAK10,718
|
$0.31
MVR4.71
|
|
Laos vs. Maldives - Cost of restaurants
pay 36.1% more for groceries
|
Laos
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.13
LAK24,563
|
$1.59
MVR24.58
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$13.26
LAK287,028
|
$4.58
MVR70.71
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$6.91
LAK149,594
|
$6.95
MVR107.39
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.11
LAK45,581
|
$1.67
MVR25.76
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.10
LAK45,368
|
$2.82
MVR43.53
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.76
LAK16,404
|
$1.84
MVR28.41
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.75
LAK16,237
|
$1.73
MVR26.73
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.97
LAK20,984
|
$1.96
MVR30.36
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.30
LAK28,220
|
$1.48
MVR22.91
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.70
LAK15,259
|
$0.70
MVR10.81
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.46
LAK9,907
|
$0.55
MVR8.48
|
|
Laos vs. Maldives - Cost of groceries
pay 2.4% more for transportation
|
Laos
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.72
LAK102,223
|
$3.54
MVR54.72
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$54.89
LAK1,188,014
|
$28.91
MVR446.89
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$28,639.89
LAK619,901,786
|
$32,679.74
MVR505,088.24
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$10.51
LAK227,429
|
$17.65
MVR272.75
|
|
Laos vs. Maldives - Cost of transportation
pay 2.6 times more for housing
|
Laos
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$9.16
LAK198,181
|
$61.82
MVR955.46
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,004.64
LAK21,745,136
|
$1,136.53
MVR17,565.85
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$817.42
LAK17,692,910
|
$731.21
MVR11,301.35
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$59.90
LAK1,296,608
|
$93.30
MVR1,441.98
|
|
Laos vs. Maldives - Cost of housing
pay 53.0% less for childcare
|
Laos
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$296.67
LAK6,421,230
|
$164.38
MVR2,540.59
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$9,267.93
LAK200,601,655
|
$3,587.42
MVR55,446.06
|
|
Laos vs. Maldives - Cost of childcare
pay 3.3 times more for entertainment and sports
|
Laos
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$1.42
LAK30,724
|
$4.74
MVR73.24
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$1.66
LAK35,847
|
$3.31
MVR51.14
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$1.98
LAK42,881
|
$13.07
MVR202.04
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$67.50
LAK1,461,025
|
$72.98
MVR1,128.03
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$3.02
LAK65,425
|
$9.80
MVR151.53
|
|
Laos vs. Maldives - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.4% more for clothing
|
Laos
|
Maldives
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$50.20
LAK1,086,662
|
$43.03
MVR665.03
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$65.21
LAK1,411,412
|
$56.86
MVR878.85
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$66.39
LAK1,436,927
|
$90.20
MVR1,394.04
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$47.52
LAK1,028,641
|
$51.74
MVR799.72
|
|
Laos vs. Maldives - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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