Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cartagena vs. Lima Cost of Living Summary

Cartagena is 11.1% more expensive than Lima.

Restaurants: pay 19.4% more in Cartagena
Groceries: pay 19.9% more in Cartagena
Transportation: pay 1.2% less in Cartagena
Housing: pay 52.4% more in Cartagena
Childcare: pay 5.4% less in Cartagena
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.9% less in Cartagena
Clothing: pay 30.2% more in Cartagena

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

Cartagena vs. Lima Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cartagena instead of Lima, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.4% more for restaurants

	Lima	Cartagena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.28 PEN14.40	$6.08 COP23,106.09	+42.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.14 PEN24.00	$9.99 COP37,949.89	+39.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 PEN3.38	$0.88 COP3,360.84	-12.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 PEN2.19	$0.70 COP2,670.02	+7.7%
Average			+19.4%

Lima vs. Cartagena - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.9% more for groceries

	Lima	Cartagena
Bread 1 loaf	$2.67 PEN8.96	$2.01 COP7,651.68	-24.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.52 PEN15.19	$3.71 COP14,093.07	-17.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.76 PEN19.35	$4.75 COP18,051.51	-17.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.96 PEN9.96	$2.30 COP8,750.82	-22.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.63 PEN8.85	$2.95 COP11,194.34	+11.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.02 PEN3.41	$1.56 COP5,942.07	+54.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 PEN1.71	$0.94 COP3,567.92	+85.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.58 PEN1.94	$0.72 COP2,720.54	+24.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 PEN1.89	$0.78 COP2,973.26	+39.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 PEN1.55	$0.76 COP2,898.93	+65.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 PEN1.46	$0.53 COP2,006.95	+21.7%
Average			+19.9%

Lima vs. Cartagena - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.2% less for transportation

	Lima	Cartagena
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.20 PEN17.47	$3.99 COP15,160.48	-23.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.85 PEN76.80	$30.54 COP116,022.06	+33.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,990.85 PEN67,196.30	$22,645.31 COP86,033,306.54	+13.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.70 PEN72.96	$15.45 COP58,708.83	-28.8%
Average			-1.2%

Lima vs. Cartagena - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.4% more for housing

	Lima	Cartagena
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.99 PEN83.99	$26.66 COP101,273.49	+6.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$661.42 PEN2,223.28	$776.41 COP2,949,713.37	+17.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$374.24 PEN1,257.94	$451.77 COP1,716,359.12	+20.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.53 PEN146.32	$115.21 COP437,706.07	+164.7%
Average			+52.4%

Lima vs. Cartagena - Cost of housing

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pay 5.4% less for childcare

	Lima	Cartagena
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$192.22 PEN646.12	$151.40 COP575,194.11	-21.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,215.29 PEN27,614.48	$9,058.12 COP34,413,322.61	+10.3%
Average			-5.4%

Lima vs. Cartagena - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Lima	Cartagena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.28 PEN7.68	$0.91 COP3,441.33	-60.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.61 PEN8.79	$1.68 COP6,391.05	-35.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.71 PEN19.20	$2.46 COP9,340.76	-57.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.13 PEN104.63	$37.46 COP142,323.67	+20.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.14 PEN24.00	$3.11 COP11,798.85	-56.5%
Average			-37.9%

Lima vs. Cartagena - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.2% more for clothing

	Lima	Cartagena
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.07 PEN171.67	$51.76 COP196,647.56	+1.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.74 PEN120.12	$41.41 COP157,318.05	+15.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.99 PEN282.33	$133.72 COP508,006.19	+59.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$83.70 PEN281.35	$120.77 COP458,844.30	+44.3%
Average			+30.2%

Lima vs. Cartagena - 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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