Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vanuatu vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Vanuatu is 3.1 times more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.8 times more in Vanuatu
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Vanuatu
Transportation: pay 8.9% more in Vanuatu
Housing: pay 8.8 times more in Vanuatu
Childcare: pay 40.8% more in Vanuatu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.9 times more in Vanuatu
Clothing: pay 15.6% less in Vanuatu

The cost of housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, groceries, childcare, and transportation in Vanuatu are more expensive than in Laos. Notably, housing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Vanuatu.

Vanuatu vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

	Laos	Vanuatu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.08 LAK44,512	$12.52 VUV1,488	+502.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.54 LAK119K	$9.56 VUV1,136	+72.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.76 LAK16,277	$2.55 VUV303	+235.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 LAK10,610	$1.93 VUV229	+289.4%
Average			+275.1%

Laos vs. Vanuatu - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Laos	Vanuatu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.13 LAK24,315	$2.54 VUV302	+123.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.26 LAK284K	$10.02 VUV1,190	-24.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.91 LAK148K	$9.06 VUV1,077	+31.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.11 LAK45,122	$5.26 VUV625	+149.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.10 LAK44,911	$8.33 VUV990	+297.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.76 LAK16,239	$2.11 VUV251	+178.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 LAK16,074	$0.88 VUV105	+17.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 LAK20,772	$2.73 VUV324	+181.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 LAK27,935	$2.46 VUV293	+88.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 LAK15,106	$1.96 VUV233	+178.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 LAK9,807	$0.95 VUV113	+108.5%
Average			+120.9%

Laos vs. Vanuatu - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.9% more for transportation

	Laos	Vanuatu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.72 LAK101K	$7.11 VUV845	+50.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.89 LAK1M	$66.78 VUV7,937	+21.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,639.89 LAK614M	$22,956.84 VUV3M	-19.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.51 LAK225K	$8.77 VUV1,042	-16.6%
Average			+8.9%

Laos vs. Vanuatu - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.8 times more for housing

	Laos	Vanuatu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.16 LAK196K	$226.79 VUV26,954	+2376.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,004.64 LAK22M	$1,906.11 VUV227K	+89.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$817.42 LAK18M	$1,278.71 VUV152K	+56.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$59.90 LAK1M	$406.43 VUV48,306	+578.5%
Average			+775.4%

Laos vs. Vanuatu - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.8% more for childcare

	Laos	Vanuatu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$296.67 LAK6M	$617.75 VUV73,422	+108.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,267.93 LAK199M	$6,795.22 VUV808K	-26.7%
Average			+40.8%

Laos vs. Vanuatu - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.9 times more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Vanuatu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.42 LAK30,415	$4.81 VUV572	+239.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.66 LAK35,486	$5.70 VUV677	+244.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.98 LAK42,449	$9.18 VUV1,091	+363.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.50 LAK1M	$67.52 VUV8,025
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.02 LAK64,766	$12.52 VUV1,488	+314.3%
Average			+290.2%

Laos vs. Vanuatu - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 15.6% less for clothing

	Laos	Vanuatu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.20 LAK1M	$33.39 VUV3,969	-33.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$65.21 LAK1M	$66.78 VUV7,937	+2.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$66.39 LAK1M	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$47.52 LAK1M	??
Average			-15.6%

Laos vs. Vanuatu - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: March 2026

Compare further: Laos vs. Vanuatu

Quality of Life Comparison · 9 statistics

Be 4.3 times more likely to be unemployed in Vanuatu

Size Comparison · See true size

Laos is about 19 times bigger than Vanuatu.

More cost comparisons

Laos vs.

China

Laos vs.

Ecuador

Laos vs.

Egypt

Laos vs.

Spain

Laos vs.

Iceland

Laos vs.

Italy

Laos vs.

Germany

Laos vs.

Ireland

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Vientiane vs. Port Vila

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Laos

Add prices for Vanuatu

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Vanuatu or Laos. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.