Cost of living comparison

compared to

Nicaragua vs. Malaysia Cost of Living Summary

Nicaragua is 17.5% more expensive than Malaysia overall.

Restaurants: pay 40.2% more in Nicaragua
Groceries: pay 15.7% more in Nicaragua
Transportation: pay 12.3% more in Nicaragua
Housing: pay 26.1% more in Nicaragua
Childcare: pay 17.2% less in Nicaragua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.6% less in Nicaragua
Clothing: pay 56.0% more in Nicaragua

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

Nicaragua vs. Malaysia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nicaragua instead of Malaysia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.2% more for restaurants

	Malaysia	Nicaragua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.22 MYR13.31	$4.57 NIO167.54	+41.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.41 MYR18.24	$6.80 NIO249.70	+54.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 MYR3.01	$0.82 NIO30.05	+12.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.39 MYR1.63	$0.60 NIO22.01	+52.6%
Average			+40.2%

Malaysia vs. Nicaragua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.7% more for groceries

	Malaysia	Nicaragua
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 MYR4.21	$1.74 NIO63.99	+71.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.79 MYR32.19	$3.29 NIO120.87	-57.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.67 MYR27.55	$4.55 NIO166.90	-31.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.99 MYR8.21	$1.98 NIO72.59	-0.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 MYR7.99	$2.48 NIO90.82	+28.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.28 MYR5.29	$1.77 NIO64.95	+38.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.67 MYR2.75	$0.39 NIO14.44	-40.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.29 MYR5.34	$0.82 NIO29.96	-36.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 MYR3.03	$0.87 NIO32.04	+19.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MYR2.20	$1.24 NIO45.67	+133.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.42	$0.88 NIO32.12	+49.5%
Average			+15.7%

Malaysia vs. Nicaragua - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.3% more for transportation

	Malaysia	Nicaragua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.86 MYR7.67	$4.95 NIO181.64	+166.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.26 MYR63.08	$5.00 NIO183.61	-67.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,849.31 MYR148,147.28	$22,973.64 NIO843,003.80	-35.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.52 MYR26.93	$5.56 NIO204.17	-14.6%
Average			+12.3%

Malaysia vs. Nicaragua - Cost of transportation

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pay 26.1% more for housing

	Malaysia	Nicaragua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.18 MYR112.33	$36.35 NIO1,333.96	+33.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$349.73 MYR1,445.27	$326.67 NIO11,986.84	-6.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$247.40 MYR1,022.40	$283.96 NIO10,419.68	+14.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.37 MYR142.05	$55.87 NIO2,050.11	+62.5%
Average			+26.1%

Malaysia vs. Nicaragua - Cost of housing

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pay 17.2% less for childcare

	Malaysia	Nicaragua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$170.62 MYR705.09	$118.12 NIO4,334.53	-30.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,229.51 MYR25,743.43	$6,000.00 NIO220,166.41	-3.7%
Average			-17.2%

Malaysia vs. Nicaragua - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Malaysia	Nicaragua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.72 MYR15.38	$1.31 NIO47.93	-64.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.63 MYR10.85	$2.16 NIO79.30	-17.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.18 MYR17.26	$2.66 NIO97.58	-36.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.40 MYR150.42	$33.69 NIO1,236.40	-7.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.62 MYR19.07	$8.00 NIO293.56	+73.3%
Average			-10.6%

Malaysia vs. Nicaragua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 56.0% more for clothing

	Malaysia	Nicaragua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.37 MYR245.35	$61.83 NIO2,268.67	+4.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.69 MYR122.68	$61.88 NIO2,270.47	+108.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$70.68 MYR292.07	$108.23 NIO3,971.55	+53.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$56.86 MYR234.98	$89.99 NIO3,302.29	+58.3%
Average			+56.0%

Malaysia vs. Nicaragua - 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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