Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Taiwan

Taiwan vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Taiwan is 3.0% cheaper than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 38.0% more in Taiwan
Groceries: pay 56.7% more in Taiwan
Transportation: pay 14.4% less in Taiwan
Housing: pay 41.5% less in Taiwan
Childcare: pay 47.1% more in Taiwan
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.4% more in Taiwan
Clothing: pay 12.5% more in Taiwan

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

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Taiwan vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 38.0% more for restaurants

	Laos	Taiwan
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 LAK49,970	$4.28 NT$136.94	+92.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK120K	$4.99 NT$159.58	-6.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LAK17,693	$0.95 NT$30.41	+20.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 LAK10,388	$0.65 NT$20.68	+39.7%
Average			+38.0%

Laos vs. Taiwan - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.7% more for groceries

	Laos	Taiwan
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,613	$1.74 NT$55.75	+52.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.87 LAK289K	$10.75 NT$343.72	-16.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.94 LAK156K	$11.29 NT$360.84	+62.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK41,899	$2.49 NT$79.71	+33.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,026	$3.71 NT$118.68	+32.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 LAK18,884	$1.94 NT$61.93	+130.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,606	$1.13 NT$36.09	+118.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,703	$1.36 NT$43.50	+14.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,564	$1.45 NT$46.48	+109.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,846	$1.07 NT$34.32	+62.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,942	$0.96 NT$30.56	+96.0%
Average			+56.7%

Laos vs. Taiwan - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.4% less for transportation

	Laos	Taiwan
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 LAK112K	$3.85 NT$123.03	-23.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.98 LAK1M	$34.67 NT$1,108.01	-34.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,872.00 LAK625M	$32,963.14 NT$1M	+18.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.14 LAK205K	$8.50 NT$271.68	-7.0%
Average			-14.4%

Laos vs. Taiwan - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.5% less for housing

	Laos	Taiwan
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.51 LAK213K	$21.08 NT$673.70	+121.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$885.68 LAK20M	$462.93 NT$14,796.00	-47.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.74 LAK14M	$291.17 NT$9,306.13	-53.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.79 LAK1M	$62.73 NT$2,004.80	-4.7%
Average			-41.5%

Laos vs. Taiwan - Cost of housing

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pay 47.1% more for childcare

	Laos	Taiwan
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.49 LAK10M	$537.84 NT$17,189.98	+23.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,982.68 LAK224M	$17,498.18 NT$559K	+75.3%
Average			+47.1%

Laos vs. Taiwan - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Taiwan
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.32 LAK29,669	$1.82 NT$58.32	+37.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK37,186	$2.83 NT$90.51	+70.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK39,976	$4.03 NT$128.75	+126.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.54 LAK1M	$37.82 NT$1,208.82	-41.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.32 LAK74,390	$9.97 NT$318.70	+200.6%
Average			+48.4%

Laos vs. Taiwan - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.5% more for clothing

	Laos	Taiwan
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.46 LAK1M	$60.97 NT$1,948.76	+25.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.95 LAK1M	$32.64 NT$1,043.09	-48.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.36 LAK1M	$78.55 NT$2,510.61	+22.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.02 LAK1M	$92.75 NT$2,964.27	+101.6%
Average			+12.5%

Laos vs. Taiwan - 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. Taiwan

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

Be 37.2% more likely to have internet access in Taiwan

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 7 times bigger than Taiwan.

Moving from Laos to Taiwan · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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