Cost of living comparison

Maldives

compared to

Singapore

Singapore vs. Maldives Cost of Living Summary

Singapore is 2.1 times more expensive than Maldives overall.

Restaurants: pay 51.4% more in Singapore
Groceries: pay 47.3% more in Singapore
Transportation: pay 2.8 times more in Singapore
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Singapore
Childcare: pay 8.7 times more in Singapore
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.3% more in Singapore
Clothing: pay 59.3% more in Singapore

The cost of childcare, transportation, housing, clothing, restaurants, and groceries in Singapore are more expensive than in Maldives. Notably, childcare, transportation, and housing are significantly more expensive in Singapore.

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Singapore vs. Maldives Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Singapore instead of Maldives, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 51.4% more for restaurants

	Maldives	Singapore
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 MVR92.80	$11.72 SGD15.02	+95.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.57 MVR147.98	$8.59 SGD11.01	-10.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.63 MVR25.14	$1.81 SGD2.32	+11.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 MVR4.59	$1.22 SGD1.56	+309.7%
Average			+51.4%

Maldives vs. Singapore - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.3% more for groceries

	Maldives	Singapore
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 MVR25.58	$2.52 SGD3.23	+52.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.48 MVR53.78	$10.61 SGD13.60	+205.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.83 MVR105.59	$11.31 SGD14.49	+65.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.87 MVR28.90	$3.63 SGD4.66	+94.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.76 MVR42.75	$4.43 SGD5.67	+60.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.80 MVR27.85	$2.04 SGD2.62	+13.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.39 MVR21.41	$1.39 SGD1.78	+0.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 MVR24.57	$2.11 SGD2.70	+32.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 MVR18.85	$1.00 SGD1.29	-17.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 MVR11.64	$1.15 SGD1.48	+52.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.69 MVR10.64	$1.07 SGD1.37	+55.9%
Average			+47.3%

Maldives vs. Singapore - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.8 times more for transportation

	Maldives	Singapore
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.81 MVR58.84	$9.42 SGD12.07	+147.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.82 MVR476.54	$95.32 SGD122.14	+209.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,446.46 MVR502K	$158K SGD202K	+386.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.52 MVR270.88	$9.84 SGD12.61	-43.8%
Average			+176.2%

Maldives vs. Singapore - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Maldives	Singapore
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$73.00 MVR1,128.65	$26.68 SGD34.19	-63.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,043.39 MVR16,130.74	$2,972.36 SGD3,808.76	+184.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$739.32 MVR11,429.82	$2,133.71 SGD2,734.12	+188.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$85.19 MVR1,317.00	$133.12 SGD170.58	+56.3%
Average			+136.2%

Maldives vs. Singapore - Cost of housing

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pay 8.7 times more for childcare

	Maldives	Singapore
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$184.92 MVR2,858.87	$1,466.84 SGD1,879.60	+693.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,003.87 MVR46,439.89	$28,413.66 SGD36,409.09	+845.9%
Average			+766.2%

Maldives vs. Singapore - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Maldives	Singapore
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.87 MVR75.24	$8.20 SGD10.51	+68.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.55 MVR54.86	$5.19 SGD6.65	+46.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$13.95 MVR215.70	$14.06 SGD18.02	+0.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$70.81 MVR1,094.69	$110.24 SGD141.26	+55.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.73 MVR150.49	$11.72 SGD15.02	+20.4%
Average			+40.3%

Maldives vs. Singapore - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 59.3% more for clothing

	Maldives	Singapore
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.51 MVR610.80	$80.66 SGD103.36	+104.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.63 MVR767.27	$50.96 SGD65.30	+2.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.11 MVR1,346.76	$110.36 SGD141.41	+26.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$52.50 MVR811.70	$127.45 SGD163.31	+142.7%
Average			+59.3%

Maldives vs. Singapore - 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

Compare further: Maldives vs. Singapore

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Size Comparison · See true size

Maldives is about 2.4 times smaller than Singapore.

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