Cost of living comparison

Equatorial Guinea

compared to

Laos

Vientiane vs. Malabo Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 41.4% more expensive than Malabo.

Restaurants: pay 51.2% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 0.4% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 20.8% more in Vientiane
Housing: pay 85.1% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 32.5 times more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.6% less in Vientiane

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

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Vientiane vs. Malabo Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 51.2% less for restaurants

	Malabo	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.54 FCFA4,999	$2.67 LAK60,126	-68.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.54 FCFA4,999	$5.35 LAK120K	-37.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.85 FCFA500	$0.71 LAK16,034	-16.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 FCFA250	$0.37 LAK8,393	-12.5%
Average			-51.2%

Malabo vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.4% more for groceries

	Malabo	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	??	$1.14 LAK25,683
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.37 FCFA1,973	$13.59 LAK306K	+303.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.34 FCFA6,056	$7.61 LAK171K	-26.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 FCFA2,200	$1.87 LAK42,012	-50.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.71 FCFA1,588	$2.81 LAK63,196	+3.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 FCFA635	$1.09 LAK24,412	+0.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 FCFA454	$0.52 LAK11,638	-33.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.19 LAK26,775
Tomatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.69 LAK15,606
Potatoes (1 lb)	??	$0.66 LAK14,886
Onions (1 lb)	??	$0.49 LAK10,972
Average			+0.4%

Malabo vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.8% more for transportation

	Malabo	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	??	$5.62 LAK126K
Monthly public transit pass	$26.40 FCFA15,461	$48.44 LAK1M	+83.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,056.06 FCFA19M	$28,190.13 LAK634M	-14.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$8.47 LAK190K
Average			+20.8%

Malabo vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 85.1% more for housing

	Malabo	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	??	$12.33 LAK277K
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$643.47 LAK14M
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$223.95 FCFA131K	$414.50 LAK9M	+85.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$69.22 LAK2M
Average			+85.1%

Malabo vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 32.5 times more for childcare

	Malabo	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$625.02 LAK14M
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$341.40 FCFA200K	$11,083.07 LAK249M	+3146.3%
Average			+3146.3%

Malabo vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Malabo	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.71 FCFA1,000	$1.36 LAK30,564	-20.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.69 FCFA2,749	$1.79 LAK40,251	-61.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.52 FCFA2,648	$1.78 LAK40,084	-60.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.14 FCFA19,996	$47.54 LAK1M	+39.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.39 FCFA3,156	$4.23 LAK95,200	-21.4%
Average			-26.6%

Malabo vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Malabo	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$26.74 LAK601K
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$66.85 LAK2M
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$56.75 LAK1M
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$41.00 LAK922K

Malabo vs. Vientiane - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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