Cost of living comparison

compared to

Vientiane vs. Lusaka Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 55.4% more expensive than Lusaka.

Restaurants: pay 0.3% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 30.3% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 73.2% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 35.7% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.7% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 70.2% more in Vientiane

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

Vientiane vs. Lusaka Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Lusaka, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.3% less for restaurants

	Lusaka	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.48 ZMW169.20	$2.31 LAK49,996	-69.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.82 ZMW86.46	$5.54 LAK119,989	+45.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.62 ZMW14.01	$0.62 LAK13,426	+0.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 ZMW7.65	$0.42 LAK8,999	+22.9%
Average			-0.3%

Lusaka vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 30.3% more for groceries

	Lusaka	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 ZMW17.36	$1.17 LAK25,280	+52.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 ZMW85.12	$13.94 LAK301,907	+270.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.99 ZMW112.88	$7.32 LAK158,516	+46.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ZMW39.99	$1.81 LAK39,236	+2.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.78 ZMW40.36	$2.99 LAK64,804	+67.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.22 ZMW27.63	$0.90 LAK19,401	-26.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZMW16.48	$0.50 LAK10,834	-31.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 ZMW27.67	$0.94 LAK20,334	-23.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 ZMW11.30	$0.61 LAK13,153	+21.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 ZMW20.04	$0.74 LAK16,026	-16.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.67 ZMW15.14	$0.47 LAK10,079	-30.5%
Average			+30.3%

Lusaka vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 73.2% more for transportation

	Lusaka	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZMW103.55	$5.18 LAK112,171	+13.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.52 ZMW871.52	$50.18 LAK1,086,859	+30.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,004.53 ZMW181,113.77	$28,736.24 LAK622,411,053	+259.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.00 ZMW271.53	$10.86 LAK235,187	-9.5%
Average			+73.2%

Lusaka vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Lusaka	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$118.37 ZMW2,678.28	$11.39 LAK246,645	-90.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$226.58 ZMW5,126.67	$866.78 LAK18,773,963	+282.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$123.07 ZMW2,784.71	$784.74 LAK16,997,001	+537.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$52.70 ZMW1,192.50	$55.21 LAK1,195,773	+4.8%
Average			+183.7%

Lusaka vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 35.7% more for childcare

	Lusaka	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$176.79 ZMW4,000.11	$338.54 LAK7,332,554	+91.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,677.88 ZMW264,228.56	$9,334.55 LAK202,181,144	-20.1%
Average			+35.7%

Lusaka vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Lusaka	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.98 ZMW22.09	$1.50 LAK32,497	+53.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZMW46.32	$1.73 LAK37,496	-15.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.67 ZMW83.14	$1.96 LAK42,496	-46.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.47 ZMW1,141.92	$50.52 LAK1,094,305	+0.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.18 ZMW94.68	$3.56 LAK77,073	-15.0%
Average			-4.7%

Lusaka vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 70.2% more for clothing

	Lusaka	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.93 ZMW428.26	$27.70 LAK599,946	+46.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.99 ZMW384.43	$69.25 LAK1,499,866	+307.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.33 ZMW1,908.06	$58.22 LAK1,260,957	-31.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.12 ZMW1,654.53	$42.19 LAK913,787	-42.3%
Average			+70.2%

Lusaka vs. Vientiane - 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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