Cost of living comparison

Peru

compared to

Malaysia

Kuching vs. Lima Cost of Living Summary

Kuching is 22.7% cheaper than Lima.

Restaurants: pay 27.3% less in Kuching
Groceries: pay 14.5% more in Kuching
Transportation: pay 26.0% less in Kuching
Housing: pay 41.0% less in Kuching
Childcare: pay 36.8% less in Kuching
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.5% less in Kuching
Clothing: pay 3.4% more in Kuching

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

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Kuching vs. Lima Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.3% less for restaurants

	Lima	Kuching
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.36 PEN14.95	$3.43 MYR14.00	-21.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.94 PEN23.82	$4.89 MYR19.99	-29.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.09 PEN3.74	$0.77 MYR3.17	-28.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 PEN2.17	$0.37 MYR1.50	-42.0%
Average			-27.3%

Lima vs. Kuching - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.5% more for groceries

	Lima	Kuching
Bread 1 loaf	$2.57 PEN8.84	$1.23 MYR5.04	-52.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.53 PEN15.56	$5.44 MYR22.24	+20.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.09 PEN20.89	$8.83 MYR36.06	+45.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.91 PEN9.99	$2.43 MYR9.95	-16.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.68 PEN9.21	$1.98 MYR8.08	-26.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.91 PEN3.13	$1.47 MYR6.00	+61.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 PEN1.64	$0.62 MYR2.52	+29.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.63 PEN2.17	$1.11 MYR4.53	+75.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 PEN2.32	$0.82 MYR3.34	+21.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 PEN1.44	$0.62 MYR2.53	+47.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.40 PEN1.37	$0.53 MYR2.16	+31.9%
Average			+14.5%

Lima vs. Kuching - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.0% less for transportation

	Lima	Kuching
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.39 PEN21.92	$3.24 MYR13.25	-49.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.51 PEN90.98	$12.24 MYR49.98	-53.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,990.00 PEN75,466.91	$41,736.41 MYR171K	+89.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.18 PEN69.26	$10.77 MYR43.99	-46.6%
Average			-26.0%

Lima vs. Kuching - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.0% less for housing

	Lima	Kuching
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.55 PEN94.54	$25.53 MYR104.30	-7.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$734.53 PEN2,520.82	$364.12 MYR1,487.53	-50.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$337.21 PEN1,157.28	$240.79 MYR983.69	-28.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$55.42 PEN190.21	$27.04 MYR110.46	-51.2%
Average			-41.0%

Lima vs. Kuching - Cost of housing

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pay 36.8% less for childcare

	Lima	Kuching
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$179.06 PEN614.50	$133.36 MYR544.83	-25.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,095.48 PEN44,942.05	$7,014.80 MYR28,657.55	-46.4%
Average			-36.8%

Lima vs. Kuching - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Lima	Kuching
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.61 PEN8.97	$4.65 MYR18.99	+77.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.24 PEN11.11	$3.23 MYR13.21	-0.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.76 PEN19.78	$4.64 MYR18.94	-19.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$32.49 PEN111.50	$29.98 MYR122.46	-7.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.26 PEN24.91	$4.89 MYR19.99	-32.6%
Average			-2.5%

Lima vs. Kuching - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.4% more for clothing

	Lima	Kuching
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.80 PEN181.20	$62.95 MYR257.17	+19.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.89 PEN119.75	$37.19 MYR151.95	+6.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.72 PEN287.31	$90.85 MYR371.13	+8.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.93 PEN270.86	$65.40 MYR267.16	-17.1%
Average			+3.4%

Lima vs. Kuching - 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

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