Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nicaragua vs. Lesotho Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 58.8% more expensive than Lesotho overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.5% less in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 26.2% more in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 15.7% less in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 3.8 times more in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5% less in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 15.5% more in Nicaragua

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

Nicaragua vs. Lesotho Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of Lesotho, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 34.5% less for restaurants

	Lesotho	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.52 LSL196.78	$4.57 NIO167.54	-60.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.07 LSL137.75	$6.80 NIO249.70	-15.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.33 LSL22.63	$0.82 NIO30.05	-38.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.79 LSL13.45	$0.60 NIO22.01	-23.8%
Average			-34.5%

Lesotho vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.2% more for groceries

	Lesotho	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$0.74 LSL12.60	$1.74 NIO63.99	+136.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.65 LSL62.39	$3.29 NIO120.87	-9.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.99 LSL68.18	$4.55 NIO166.90	+13.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.44 LSL24.60	$1.98 NIO72.59	+37.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.68 LSL45.78	$2.48 NIO90.82	-7.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.82 LSL13.95	$1.77 NIO64.95	+116.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.97 LSL16.63	$0.39 NIO14.44	-59.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.18 LSL20.09	$0.82 NIO29.96	-30.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 LSL17.86	$0.87 NIO32.04	-16.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 LSL11.61	$1.24 NIO45.67	+83.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 LSL11.94	$0.88 NIO32.12	+25.1%
Average			+26.2%

Lesotho vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.7% less for transportation

	Lesotho	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.58 LSL78.13	$4.95 NIO181.64	+8.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.81 LSL491.95	$5.00 NIO183.61	-82.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,166.39 LSL344,363.01	$22,973.64 NIO843,003.80	+13.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.70 LSL97.41	$5.56 NIO204.17	-2.5%
Average			-15.7%

Lesotho vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Lesotho	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.68 LSL557.96	$36.35 NIO1,333.96	+11.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$145.97 LSL2,492.53	$326.67 NIO11,986.84	+123.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$73.94 LSL1,262.66	$283.96 NIO10,419.68	+284.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$55.87 NIO2,050.11
Average			+139.7%

Lesotho vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 3.8 times more for childcare

	Lesotho	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$49.99 LSL853.69	$118.12 NIO4,334.53	+136.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,133.16 LSL19,349.92	$6,000.00 NIO220,166.41	+429.5%
Average			+282.9%

Lesotho vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Lesotho	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.02 LSL34.44	$1.31 NIO47.93	-35.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.82 LSL31.16	$2.16 NIO79.30	+18.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.90 LSL83.63	$2.66 NIO97.58	-45.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$22.09 LSL377.16	$33.69 NIO1,236.40	+52.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$8.00 NIO293.56
Average			-2.5%

Lesotho vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.5% more for clothing

	Lesotho	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.17 LSL754.32	$61.83 NIO2,268.67	+40.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.33 LSL688.73	$61.88 NIO2,270.47	+53.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.79 LSL1,738.21	$108.23 NIO3,971.55	+6.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$144.05 LSL2,459.74	$89.99 NIO3,302.29	-37.5%
Average			+15.5%

Lesotho vs. Nicaragua - Cost of clothing

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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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