Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby vs. Lusaka Cost of Living Summary

Port Moresby is 86.3% more expensive than Lusaka.

Restaurants: pay 24.9% more in Port Moresby
Groceries: pay 44.4% more in Port Moresby
Transportation: pay 30.0% more in Port Moresby
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Port Moresby
Childcare: pay 50.4% more in Port Moresby
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.9% more in Port Moresby
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Port Moresby

The cost of housing, clothing, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Port Moresby are more expensive than in Lusaka. Notably, housing and clothing are significantly more expensive in Port Moresby.

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Port Moresby vs. Lusaka Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Port Moresby instead of Lusaka, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 24.9% more for restaurants

	Lusaka	Port Moresby
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.53 ZMW110.20	$7.78 PGK35.37	+40.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.03 ZMW100.18	$5.56 PGK25.27	+10.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 ZMW15.03	$0.75 PGK3.41	-0.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.47 ZMW9.39	$0.67 PGK3.03	+41.5%
Average			+24.9%

Lusaka vs. Port Moresby - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.4% more for groceries

	Lusaka	Port Moresby
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ZMW23.92	$1.52 PGK6.91	+26.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 ZMW102.63	$4.32 PGK19.64	-16.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.52 ZMW129.88	$7.10 PGK32.28	+8.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.94 ZMW38.66	$3.69 PGK16.78	+90.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.87 ZMW57.22	$2.58 PGK11.75	-10.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.53 ZMW30.42	$1.95 PGK8.88	+27.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.10 ZMW21.94	$1.44 PGK6.57	+31.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 ZMW32.94	$3.29 PGK14.97	+99.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 ZMW13.88	$2.92 PGK13.29	+319.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 ZMW23.20	$1.51 PGK6.88	+29.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 ZMW16.51	$1.31 PGK5.96	+58.2%
Average			+44.4%

Lusaka vs. Port Moresby - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.0% more for transportation

	Lusaka	Port Moresby
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.77 ZMW115.01	$3.78 PGK17.18	-34.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$50.15 ZMW999.41	$22.22 PGK101.06	-55.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$7,541.11 ZMW150K	$50,004.77 PGK227K	+563.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.58 ZMW290.52	$23.34 PGK106.12	+60.1%
Average			+30.0%

Lusaka vs. Port Moresby - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Lusaka	Port Moresby
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$54.99 ZMW1,095.72	$91.68 PGK416.89	+66.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.95 ZMW7,670.79	$1,603.86 PGK7,293.44	+316.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$179.40 ZMW3,574.79	$555.61 PGK2,526.59	+209.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$61.51 ZMW1,225.74	$89.65 PGK407.67	+45.7%
Average			+201.9%

Lusaka vs. Port Moresby - Cost of housing

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pay 50.4% more for childcare

	Lusaka	Port Moresby
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.25 ZMW2,754.96	$842.47 PGK3,831.07	+509.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,638.36 ZMW332K	$6,176.41 PGK28,086.83	-62.9%
Average			+50.4%

Lusaka vs. Port Moresby - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Lusaka	Port Moresby
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.26 ZMW25.05	$3.00 PGK13.64	+138.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.82 ZMW56.21	$2.47 PGK11.24	-12.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.02 ZMW60.11	$6.45 PGK29.31	+113.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.67 ZMW1,089.46	$61.49 PGK279.61	+12.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.03 ZMW120.22	$8.89 PGK40.43	+47.4%
Average			+41.9%

Lusaka vs. Port Moresby - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Lusaka	Port Moresby
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$23.28 ZMW463.85	$32.73 PGK148.82	+40.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.45 ZMW307.88	$31.67 PGK144.02	+105.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.19 ZMW900.42	$136.12 PGK619.02	+201.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$72.53 ZMW1,445.30	$163.90 PGK745.35	+126.0%
Average			+110.5%

Lusaka vs. Port Moresby - 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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