Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Tonga

Tonga vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Tonga is 6.1% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.1 times more in Tonga
Groceries: pay 38.7% more in Tonga
Transportation: pay 34.7% less in Tonga
Housing: pay 19.0% more in Tonga
Childcare: pay 90.5% less in Tonga
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5 times more in Tonga
Clothing: pay 63.8% less in Tonga

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

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Tonga vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.1 times more for restaurants

	Laos	Tonga
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.23 LAK50,211	$8.31 TOP20.00	+272.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.35 LAK121K	$10.38 TOP25.00	+94.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LAK17,779	$2.84 TOP6.83	+259.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 LAK10,439	$2.46 TOP5.92	+430.6%
Average			+206.2%

Laos vs. Tonga - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.7% more for groceries

	Laos	Tonga
Bread 1 loaf	$1.14 LAK25,737	$1.04 TOP2.50	-9.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$12.87 LAK290K	$4.50 TOP10.83	-65.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.94 LAK156K	$5.92 TOP14.26	-14.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 LAK42,101	$5.09 TOP12.27	+172.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.81 LAK63,330	$2.67 TOP6.43	-5.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.84 LAK18,975	$1.26 TOP3.02	+49.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.52 LAK11,662	$1.26 TOP3.02	+142.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.19 LAK26,832	$1.32 TOP3.18	+10.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 LAK15,639	$1.70 TOP4.08	+144.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 LAK14,918	$1.44 TOP3.48	+118.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 LAK10,995	$1.19 TOP2.87	+144.5%
Average			+38.7%

Laos vs. Tonga - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.7% less for transportation

	Laos	Tonga
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 LAK113K	$5.50 TOP13.25	+9.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.98 LAK1M	$41.53 TOP100.00	-21.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,872.00 LAK628M	$5,814.53 TOP14,000.00	-79.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.14 LAK206K	$18.69 TOP45.00	+104.6%
Average			-34.7%

Laos vs. Tonga - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.0% more for housing

	Laos	Tonga
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.51 LAK214K	$124.60 TOP300.00	+1210.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$885.68 LAK20M	$622.99 TOP1,500.00	-29.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$631.74 LAK14M	??
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$65.79 LAK1M	$142.92 TOP344.12	+117.2%
Average			+19.0%

Laos vs. Tonga - Cost of housing

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pay 90.5% less for childcare

	Laos	Tonga
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$435.49 LAK10M	$157.82 TOP380.00	-63.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,982.68 LAK225M	$249.19 TOP600.00	-97.5%
Average			-90.5%

Laos vs. Tonga - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.5 times more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Tonga
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.32 LAK29,812	$3.32 TOP8.00	+151.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK37,366	$2.91 TOP7.00	+75.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK40,169	$10.18 TOP24.50	+470.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.54 LAK1M	$31.15 TOP75.00	-51.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.32 LAK74,750	$41.53 TOP100.00	+1152.0%
Average			+151.0%

Laos vs. Tonga - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 63.8% less for clothing

	Laos	Tonga
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.46 LAK1M	$14.54 TOP35.00	-70.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.95 LAK1M	$17.65 TOP42.50	-72.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.36 LAK1M	$20.77 TOP50.00	-67.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.02 LAK1M	$29.07 TOP70.00	-36.8%
Average			-63.8%

Laos vs. Tonga - 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. Tonga

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Tonga?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Make 2.8 times more money in Tonga

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 317 times bigger than Tonga.

Moving from Laos to Tonga · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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