Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Costa Rica

Costa Rica vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 16.1% more expensive than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 72.0% more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 34.3% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 25.0% more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 20.1% less in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 4.2 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 21.4% less in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 49.2% more in Costa Rica

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

Planning a move to Costa Rica? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Costa Rica vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Maldives, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 72.0% more for restaurants

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.74	$11.15 CRC5,063.11	+85.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.57 MVR147.88	$10.85 CRC4,926.96	+13.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.12	$2.43 CRC1,104.15	+49.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$1.79 CRC811.36	+501.4%
Average			+72.0%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 34.3% more for groceries

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.57	$2.77 CRC1,259.30	+67.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.48 MVR53.75	$4.82 CRC2,188.51	+38.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.83 MVR105.52	$8.37 CRC3,801.08	+22.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 MVR28.89	$3.63 CRC1,650.45	+94.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.76 MVR42.72	$4.40 CRC1,998.69	+59.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.83	$2.20 CRC1,000.99	+22.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.40	$0.73 CRC329.31	-47.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 MVR24.56	$1.67 CRC756.58	+4.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.83	$1.43 CRC650.92	+17.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 MVR11.63	$1.44 CRC653.84	+91.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 MVR10.63	$1.33 CRC602.69	+92.9%
Average			+34.3%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.0% more for transportation

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.81	$5.78 CRC2,626.17	+51.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.23	$66.80 CRC30,340.09	+116.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR501K	$22,830.95 CRC10M	-29.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.70	$15.71 CRC7,134.70	-10.3%
Average			+25.0%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 20.1% less for housing

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,127.92	$51.66 CRC23,462.03	-29.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,043.39 MVR16,120.31	$834.08 CRC379K	-20.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$739.32 MVR11,422.43	$597.43 CRC271K	-19.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.19 MVR1,316.15	$68.56 CRC31,138.15	-19.5%
Average			-20.1%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.2 times more for childcare

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.92 MVR2,857.02	$742.27 CRC337K	+301.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,003.87 MVR46,409.85	$13,434.66 CRC6M	+347.2%
Average			+323.7%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 21.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.19	$2.91 CRC1,320.39	-40.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.82	$4.06 CRC1,843.59	+14.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.95 MVR215.56	$5.29 CRC2,404.55	-62.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,093.98	$66.37 CRC30,141.38	-6.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.39	$7.92 CRC3,596.43	-18.6%
Average			-21.4%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 49.2% more for clothing

	Maldives	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.41	$67.50 CRC30,654.25	+70.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.63 MVR766.77	$49.52 CRC22,492.04	-0.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.11 MVR1,345.89	$122.64 CRC55,697.30	+40.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 MVR811.17	$108.52 CRC49,287.99	+106.7%
Average			+49.2%

Maldives vs. Costa Rica - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Maldives vs. Costa Rica

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Costa Rica?

Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

Be 51.7% more likely to be unemployed in Costa Rica

Size Comparison · See true size

Maldives is about 171 times smaller than Costa Rica.

Moving from Maldives to Costa Rica · UN DESA 2020

1 people born in Maldives live in Costa Rica.

More cost comparisons

Maldives vs.

Sri Lanka

Maldives vs.

India

Maldives vs.

Australia

Maldives vs.

United Kingdom

Maldives vs.

Switzerland

Maldives vs.

South Africa

Maldives vs.

Russia

Maldives vs.

Seychelles

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Male vs. San Jose

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Maldives

Add prices for Costa Rica

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Costa Rica or Maldives. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.